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casspaJan 26, 2011
People will be afraid to comment on this....they're watching
luv2luvJan 26, 2011
You're screwed ^
peterinjapanJan 27, 2011
Heh.
anomaly100Jan 27, 2011
Good thing I am not going to comment. Whoops....
darth0Jan 27, 2011
Bring it on tax-auditing douchebags!
JerseyBlakeJan 26, 2011
paper trails will make or break you everytime
sandylandersJan 26, 2011
The audits are mostly random. They pick an area of itemization (say travel expenses) and make you defend the deduction. If you have very good documentation (I use color coded tax sheets on excel) and receipts ones tax atty can stop an audit in a few minutes.
My tax atty told me to always print my organized tax sheets complete with dates and explanations and save these. His comment to me was "I can shut down an audit in 5 min with this type of documentation." Also never go in yourself. Let an atty do it for you.
sandylandersJan 26, 2011
FTA: The IRS uses industry standards to judge whether or not to audit.
This is true. As I am a professor my tax atty looks at my deductions against non-reported income (honoraria, grant reviews etc) and compares it with the norms of others in California. If I am within the norm than that is easily defended. If one year I exceed the norm but another year I am under the norm then he lists the running average.
In the end the fear of audit is used to intimidate one into NOT taking deductions. Make sure you have a good tax atty who can alert you with regards to pushing the limits. My motto is pay whatever I have to pay and not one nickel more. And remember, every commie lib professor that I know becomes a Republican on tax day as they nickel and dime every deduction that they can. After the libs receive their refund they then turn around and say that we are "under taxed." The liberal BS beat goes on and on.
norman619Jan 26, 2011
These are good old fashioned shake downs. Too bad we the people can't audit them to see how many people OVERPAID. When they owe YOU they keep nice and quiet.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
entroperJan 26, 2011
What are you talking about? When you file your taxes, you're telling the government how much you owe or how much they owe you, not the other way around. You have access to everything you need to determine how much the government owes you. You even have a few years to file an amended return if you discover a credit or deduction that you forgot about.
yibbutkeenJan 26, 2011
The true american terrorists - the IRS
Granted they have been significantly defanged, but their primary purpose is to scare people into overpaying and/or not taking all the deductions they are allowed to.
My grandparents were audited back in the 60s, and nothing before or since had scared them as much. An audit is a fishing expedition to find the tiniest mistake and explode it into massive fines, fees, and threats of prison.
We need to scrap the entire tax system and replace it with a very basic, simple, easy to read understand law. A couple of pages should be sufficient to replace the 10s (100s?) of thousands of pages in the current laws. Then we can allow the former IRS agents an opportunity to try and find work in the private sector.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
diggerfabulousJan 26, 2011
I for one love my IRS overlords and see their due diligence on my paper work as a sign of concern for us lower level bottom feeders.
dralezeroJan 27, 2011
I've messed up twice on my own taxes and received a letter pointing out my mistake. I figured out my mistakes later and just figured they would not help me and keep the money. Both corrections to my mistakes resulted in more money on my returns. I suppose if the corrections meant I owed them it could be an issue. i think you have to do something pretty bad or repeatedly to be audited.
Closed AccountJan 26, 2011
No, Brian, it's a foreign car, the "T" is silent. Sweet, I'm getting an Audi!
wolfingJan 27, 2011
not me, I just use standard deduction every year. I tried doing the itemized deductions a couple of years and I always fell far behind standard deduction. I guess if you have a family with lots of extra expenses it can build up.
Closed AccountJan 27, 2011
you kick the IRS in the balls and shut the door. its what i do..
fishifanbJan 27, 2011
Audits are nothing to fear unless you've been cheating and lying to avoid paying your share.
If you have I figure you get what's coming to you.
I've got no sympathy for tax cheats. If everybody paid their share (not a penny more, mind you) the rates honest people pay could be lower.
scarredupJan 27, 2011
I'd be so screwed. I never keep records of my bills or paychecks.
tyler1413Jan 27, 2011
Nope, have nothing to hide :)
PriyashaJan 28, 2011
No way