Audits on Police deductions.

[DaveO]

At the Liason meeting I attended last week we were told that the IRS intends to hire 1100 auditors, nationwide. That should fix it.

[Nashville]

Shot Down?

Kamaina, it is quite understandable that you are going to have disagreement (yes from others on this very board as you say) on a position that preparers should "turn in" other preparers deemed to be unscrupulous. Not only that, but to be plying a doctrine which expounds this as being "professional behavior."

The rest of us should not contest your right to your own opinion, albeit perhaps unpopular. And most of us know there are people who shouldn't be preparing because of their shady tactics. Seems like there's at least one in every town. I don't have a problem with you knowing ANYTHING that I do that I post on this message board, so long as you don't think you are the sole judge and jury as to whether I am right or wrong.

Going back to the original post, I am confident dmj4 has known for years that this was going on in her town, yet refrained from whistleblowing on this errant preparer. And it's good to see that the IRS (not dmj4) finally put a stop to this.

Where your ship runs amuck is the ultimate perception that you are aligning yourself with enforcement officers of taxing authorities. The general public needing tax preparation services should know this about you, and they will eventually find out. Not only that but if you think you are turning in sleazy tax preparers into the "forthright and fair-minded" taxing authorities, you don't know much about many auditors and tax enforcement people. Percentage-wise, there are as many in their numbers that are the skurf of creation as there are in tax preparation.

In fact, the absolute most unscrupulous tax preparer I know of was a former IRS agent. The IRS would back off any time one of his clients was selected in "stratified selection" for audit. Rumor has it he was part of the the "good ole' boy" network, but of course this could never be substantiated. Finally retired.

I've admired those who stand up for what they think is right, in spite of whether it is popular or not. But this loses its lustre when the issue at hand is not really right.

[tacks]

At the Liason meeting I attended last week we were told that the IRS intends to hire 1100 auditors, nationwide. That should fix it.

Thanks, Dave. That's good to know. I looked at a job some time ago. And i looked at the work done by the current/prior preparer. And i was very surprised this guy hadn't yet been pulled up by the IRS. For a moment it made me wonder why i bother.