FYI re the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (1 Viewer)

[Pat Hartman]

While experts representing the wealthy may construct tax schemes of deep complexity, Rettig says they are good at doing so within the letter of the law.

That is what the tax code is intended to do. It provides deductions that are very complex and that only the wealthy benefit from. Trump has said this more than once. Taking advantage of the tax code is not criminal. The tax code itself may be criminal given how it gives particular people/industries advantages but you have no obligation to pay more tax than the code calls for.

The IRS automatically has fed to it

1. W2 info
2. K1 info
3. Stock transactions
4. Investment account holdings
5. the various 1099 versions

All of these things can be analyzed via computer and matched to tax returns. I'm pretty sure that the banks all report something to the IRS also so they know if you have 30 checking accounts at different banks and they may even know the balance.

So with some not too difficult programming, they can do all this cross matching for a single year and even year to year.

The killer for them is deductions. And small businesses are especially problematic. I've worked for more than one small business where I'm pretty sure that the owner was using the maintenance staff on his own property.

 

[Pat Hartman]

I stay out of trouble better when telling the truth.

Lies were always twice the punishment in our house. Once for the "crime" and again for the lie.

 

[Steve R.]

While experts representing the wealthy may construct tax schemes of deep complexity, Rettig says they are good at doing so within the letter of the law.

That is what the tax code is intended to do. It provides deductions that are very complex and that only the wealthy benefit from. Trump has said this more than once. Taking advantage of the tax code is not criminal. The tax code itself may be criminal given how it gives particular people/industries advantages but you have no obligation to pay more tax than the code calls for.

The IRS automatically has fed to it

1. W2 info
2. K1 info
3. Stock transactions
4. Investment account holdings
5. the various 1099 versions

All of these things can be analyzed via computer and matched to tax returns. I'm pretty sure that the banks all report something to the IRS also so they know if you have 30 checking accounts at different banks and they may even know the balance.

So with some not too difficult programming, they can do all this cross matching for a single year and even year to year.

The killer for them is deductions. And small businesses are especially problematic. I've worked for more than one small business where I'm pretty sure that the owner was using the maintenance staff on his own property.

The point of having a Byzantine tax code of "deep complexity" is to have an incomprehensible "law" where subjective manipulation is used to either prosecute if the person is disliked by the current political establishment or allowed to walk free if that person is liked by the current establishment. Computerization, by looking at all the data, then makes it "easy" to ferret out a "target" for alleged tax evasion.

 

[Pat Hartman]

The tax prep program I use provides audit guidelines by providing a list of various deductions that are frequently questioned and the range for other filers with my income. So, I know if the average of something is $3,000 and I try to deduct $25,000, then I'm probably going to have to prove the deduction in an audit. Staying within the range does not guarantee you won't be audited but it does guarantee that you won't be flagged as an outlier and therefore suspicious.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Yep, my automated code has warnings when there is a potential trap for audits. The last time it went off, turned out to be a typo on my part and once I un-reversed the digits, it was happy. I won't actually advertise it, but I've used HRB for over 10 years and never had a complaint except for the time that they left Louisiana out of their list of states from which I could get a State tax add-in. I know my state isn't THAT great, but come on, folks! We pay taxes too!

 

[RogerCooper]

If all politicians and really all of us had to meet the high standards of the mosaic law, there would never be any electable politicians or any good human beings out there. The point is, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Who among us is without sin?


If you like the prices of food and necessities during the trump years and see the difference currently, then you know who's policies screwed the economy up.

If you liked the cost of housing during the trump years and not as much now, then you know who's policies screwed the housing market up.

The worst part is that it's easy to damage the economy and steel from all of us by way of inflation. That hurts poor people the most and rich people the least. You would have to convince yourself that it's not happening by closing your eye's and dreaming good things happening if you are poor.

With all the trillions of dollars spent on policies that do no good for the country, we still don't have an effective way to stop illegal border crossings. Remember each new person that comes into the country and demands food and shelter is a huge drain on the tax payers. Poor American's can see what the illegals are getting financially, and the poorest are suffering because of it.

I have never murdered or stolen or born false witness or committed adultery. Have you? It seems more like the bare minimum for rather than a high standard.