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BarryAZ Send message Joined: 1 Apr 01 Posts: 2580 Credit: 16,982,517 RAC: 0 |
Gary -- good point regarding the tax lawyer you had dinner with -- I suspect he wasn't working by himself and was paid more than the IRS folks he jousts with. My sense is that we have way too complex tax code. That is not on the IRS -- that's on our Congress -- and the VERY effective lobbyists who essentially write the tax code. The tax code (personal and especially corporate) is a scavenger hunt. Folks (and especially companies with the resources) can be very good at finding ways to minimize their tax burden far below the 'nominal' tax rates. I am all for simplifying the code. As I noted earlier, I don't have a problem dropping the tax rates on corporations while doing that simplification. While the net effect might not be to reduce taxes for some of the especially effective scavenger hunting firms, it might reduce their costs as the let go of much of their corps of tax lawyers. For firms without corps of lawyers and not as adept at the scavenger hunt -- they might well see real tax payment reductions. Oh, and in pushing for true tax code simplification, we might also see reduced employment for scavenger hunt creating lobbyists. |
betreger Send message Joined: 29 Jun 99 Posts: 11354 Credit: 29,581,041 RAC: 66 |
. . . but lawyers are special bottom feeding scum. :) Gary, the IRS generates a profit, Typically if it costs more to persecute than they think they will get they don't waste their time. They try to operate as a business. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30593 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
persecute ? |
betreger Send message Joined: 29 Jun 99 Posts: 11354 Credit: 29,581,041 RAC: 66 |
LOL, yes it feels like that preparing for an audit. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30593 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
or the companies finances are so complicated and diverse it takes that many IRS personel to weed through all the filings IIRC he said they file at least 1000 tax returns every month, but that included all the foreign tax returns. As he said they know every return they file has errors. They just hope the errors are immaterial. He gave an example of the IRS finding a 50 million error and they take a second look and find 45 million the other way. IRS is ahead 5 million. It isn't that they don't pay or don't want to pay, it is that it is impossible to know how much they should pay. Yes the tax code is far too complex. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30593 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
LOL, yes it feels like that preparing for an audit. If the auditors move in to your office and never leave? |
betreger Send message Joined: 29 Jun 99 Posts: 11354 Credit: 29,581,041 RAC: 66 |
LOL, yes it feels like that preparing for an audit. Yes, but it is making money. |
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