Our Tax Dollars at Work

[erchess]

Hi Don

To claim the kids as dependents, the mother need not support them. The requirement is that the kids do not provide over 50% of their own support.

To claim the kids for EIC, no support is required.

If the taxpayer was claiming HoH she was probably incorrect. But at her income level filing status is not an issue unless she was still married and should have filed MFS.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the correction. I am once again as outraged as the rest of you. Why was she not able to prevail?

[luke]

to Snaggle/Bees

Right on Brothers! I use to post on my bulleting board, info FROM IRS showing "average" amount of time needed to prepare all types of income tax returns, from education/training thru actual completion of return. If anyone complained about my fee ("for doing such a simple return") I would point out the info FROM IRS and then let them do the math on my hourly fee!

[BHoffman]

The link I put up is a powerpoint presentation of a study "Seeking to Understand the Moral Reasoning of Tax Practioners". It was part of the 2009 IRS Research Conference. It's easy to skip through the graphs, etc.

The Tentative Conclusions are on page 19. The first one says: "Tax practitioners use lower levels of ethical reasoning at work than in a social context."

Recommendations on how to deal with this problem and others begin on page 21.

To the point - it appears that tax preparers are going to be facing more and more scrutiny from the IRS. In some cases, it would be deserved. In others, not so much.

But overall, I think we are all going to be required to perform a lot more due diligence. That is going to take a lot more time per client. Do you plan to spend more time per client, ask for more detailed substantiation (I want to SEE those receipts, for example)? Shall we raise our fees accordingly? Or, would that be poor moral reasoning?

[Lion]

Low Income

Low income does not necessarily mean a simple return. I've had clients earning less than $20,000 with EIC, unreported tips, SE income, education expenses, child care expenses, two states, etc., not to mention the time I spent making sure they actually qualified for EIC, their dependents, HoH, asking questions, documenting,... And, look how much the representative got paid for not the best outcome!

[Snaggletooth]

Moral Turpitude

"Tax practitioners use lower levels of ethical reasoning at work than in a social context."

To the point - it appears that tax preparers are going to be facing more and more scrutiny from the IRS. In some cases, it would be deserved. In others, not so much.

But overall, I think we are all going to be required to perform a lot more due diligence.

Disgusting. Along with all my clientele, by and large, we are more honest and ethical with our government than they are with us.

IRS for example is talking more "due diligence" but insist we are not being required to "audit" the taxpayer. What is the difference? and if there is a difference, where is the line drawn?

One example is the client who tells you he has an auto log, so you check the box which says there is written evidence. If you ask to see the log and read a sampling of its contents, you are auditing. IRS says failure to do this is a "due diligence" failure and will penalize the preparer $1000.

This is my fifth consecutive year at an Asheville, NC seminar. Every year the classes seem to be smaller and there are virtually no people in there under age 35-40. We have described some of the problems in this thread. IRS needs to factor in whether they will be better off or worse off if they succeed in running us out of business.

[BHoffman]

Turpitude sounds almost as dirty as Bifurcate

.....I hear a Haiku poem.....

Moral turpitude gasps
In the face of unwieldy due diligence
Bifurcate, bifurcate

There will be a prize for good limericks

[Black Bart]

e=mc2

.....I hear a Haiku poem.....
Moral turpitude gasps
In the face of unwieldy due diligence
Bifurcate, bifurcate

There will be a prize for good limericks

Everything is traveling through Spacetime: space (the three dimensions we experience and the nine others that m-theory predicts) and time. Adding the total movement through both space and time always equals light speed. Since you must travel constantly at exactly the speed of light, when you increase your speed through space, you decrease your speed through time.

There was a young lady named Bight,
whose speed was far greater than light.
She left one day,
In a relative way,
And returned the previous night.

[Snaggletooth]

Images

There was a young lady named Bight,
whose speed was far greater than light.
She left one day,
In a relative way,
And returned the previous night.

I've often wondered if you travel faster than the speed of light, that means you are outpacing your own photography of yourself, right?

Meaning if you can travel this fast to a distant planet, then you can turn around and watch yourself arrive! Why not?

[Gene V]

I've often wondered if you travel faster than the speed of light, that means you are outpacing your own photography of yourself, right?

Meaning if you can travel this fast to a distant planet, then you can turn around and watch yourself arrive! Why not?

Remember:
Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until
you hear hem speak.