Beware – The IRS Wants to File Your Taxes for You

The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC), a conservative alternative to AARP, has posted this article from which I quote. Hopefully, it does not have a chance of passing congress, but it does reveal the mindset of the IRS.

The proposal by the IRS is currently being considered by Congress, through a bill proposed by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) which claims to streamline the federal tax return process.   But in fact, it will give the IRS the responsibility and the power to handle the filing of every American tax return. No longer will Americans be able or allowed to utilize the expertise of accountants or the countless free filing services offered by corporations, but instead will be forced to pay taxes or accept refunds based on the IRS’s independent calculations. There is an obvious conflict of interest here. The IRS earns it’s stars and stripes when it collects as much in taxes as possible, and with the current administration doing all it can to close the tax gap, the IRS has every incentive to maximize collections and minimize refunds. That means that most Americans will be issued a smaller refund and a bigger bill, and although some can hire lawyers and accountants to fight the IRS, most will not.
Without even touching on the long list of concerns and challenges this proposal will bring, we should consider that the IRS already has a bad record of doing their current job. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that the IRS answers 1 in 5 tax related questions incorrectly. The GAO also reports that the IRS has failed to correct over 67% of their mistakes going back two years, mistakes ranging from miscalculated refunds, mislabeling of addresses, and the mailing of private information about one taxpayer to the address of another. Those folks that rely on their refunds are still waiting for the IRS to repair their mistakes, and the incidents of fraud and security issues related to the mailing errors are incalculable. The UK tried a similar system a few years ago, and because of the egregious failures, particularly in terms of accuracy and privacy, their government has completely given up on the failed program and is reverting back to an American-like system. The IRS is offering to do all of our taxes for free, even though the program will cost billions to create and the long-term economic consequences will be devastating. The words of Thomas Jefferson ring true even today, “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.”

Read the full article here.