I want to go over some of the IRS audit soundbites we have heard in the public square from both sides on this increase in the IRS army thing, because there is some good things to learn from them…primarily, to distill what is fact and what is fiction. And to help us assess what the future might look like for individual and business taxpayers and the IRS. Since I am NOT in the tax policy making business, I am going to stay away from weighing in on whether this new legislation is good or bad for the country. But I am happy to weigh on this. The IRS has a lot of broken areas that need to be fixed, especially their three areas of core (in)competency:

With all the talk about the new funds budgeted for the IRS, here are some things to keep in perspective. In 2021 263 million tax returns were filed. About 10% were still paper filed, 90% electronically filed. There are about 35 million 2020 tax returns that are still unprocessed. In 2021 there were nearly 300 million calls to the IRS. Only a little over 11 % of these calls were answered. By contrast in 2019 about 30% of the calls in 2019. So basically, the call answering capacity has not changed. Processing correspondence: In 2021 there was about 10 million pieces of correspondence the IRS had to process. 60% was individual; 40% was business.  It took the IRS an average of…get ready for this, 199 days …

Should You be Afraid of the Newly Formed IRS Army of Auditors?

So, you’ve seen and heard all the news about this new army of IRS agents. Armed with guns they are getting ready to do battle with US taxpayers. A force bigger than Napoleon’s Grand Arme. You gotta love these politicians. Those who oppose it say things like, these audits will only hurt poor people. Those who support it say things like, these audits will only hurt millionaires. And then you have the dumbest of ALL…some of the so-called tax experts…smugly saying, well, if you are paying your taxes, then why would you not support this. You have nothing to worry about…or DO you?? It’s like, if you go shopping at the grocery store, you buy 50 items, you get stopped and checked out by security who goes through EVERY item you have… and checks it against your sales receipt. Do you welcome this? Of course you don’t. But these tax experts would have you believe that you should welcome this audit. Why wouldn’t you?

Five Tips to Deal with Tax Debt, They All Begin with C

I am a big advocate of taxpayers with tax debt taking charge of their life and dealing with it head-on. Our research shows that over 70% ...

Who Tries to Scare You More: The IRS or Tax Resolution Experts

I’m not sure who is more annoying tax…collectors who chase you for past due taxes or the tax firms that run the ads about tax collectors chasing you. 

What’s the Real Truth About IRS Audits

There has been a lot of noise on audits in the media lately. It’s time now to talk about how to deal with them. The IRS calls audits examinations…