IRS Instructions as Clear as Mud, Even to the IRS

Tax time is just around the corner and that means it will be time once again to comb through all the jargon that is IRS tax forms. Many taxpayers have long bemoaned tax forms and instructions as just plain confusing and in some cases, downright sinister. However, even though filing taxes on your own accord can be a risky proposition, as long as you stick to the code and follow the IRS’s instructions carefully and exactly, you should be OK, right? Well, not necessarily.

What? How could that possibly be true? The fact is tax instructions don’t actually fall under the tax law. So, in reality, you could even follow the instructions on a tax form with exactness and still end up with an error. Of course, the IRS would understand if that happened to you, right? Well, not exactly. Many taxpayers have used this argument to no avail. In most instances, the courts side with the IRS and rarely hold the agency to what is written in its forms and instructions.

That’s because, unfortunately, according to legal precedence, the only things that hold up in court as tax law are regulations, official statutes and judicial decisions. That means even if you fill out your tax forms incorrectly and it’s the IRS’s fault, you will still be held accountable for those mistakes. It doesn’t seem fair that the IRS is ultimately not responsible to write correct instructions, but nevertheless when it comes to the IRS there isn’t too much that does seem fair.

Posted in
Safety and Health Programs: Can you make your company safer?

Safety and Health Programs: Can you make your company safer?

Safety and Health Programs: Can you make your company safer? No one wants an unsafe work environment. But unsafe or hazardous spots in your environment must first be reported before they can be corrected. That takes cooperation from all employees, including those reluctant to blow the whistle. In 2004, more than 6 million work-related illnesses…

Employee Hiring Decisions

Employee Hiring Decisions

Employee Hiring Decisions Making Better Hiring Decisions One of the most powerful ways a company can improve its profitability is to attract and retain quality employees. In the “Simple Tools to Help Make Better Hiring Decisions” session of The Work Truck Show, consultant Fred Yetka offered guaranteed ways to reduce turnover — and the wasted…

Black and White

No Longer Just Black and White

No Longer Just Black and White By Myron Curry President of BusinessTrainingMedia.com Diversity in the workplace used to hinge upon the level of responsibility, pay, and respect that one could receive based upon the color of skin and ethnicity. But, these days, diversity in the workplace has become much more than that. Most CEO’s and…

FOUR KEY DIVERSITY RECRUITMENT & RETENTION STRATEGIES

Four Key Diversity Recruitment & Retention Strategies

Four Key Diversity Recruitment & Retention Strategies From BusinessTrainingMedia.com Workforce Article Library 1) Recruitment and retention strategy. Most employers find that it is generally easier to recruit people than it is to retain them. Unless organizations create a climate that welcomes and is hospitable to those who are in some way different from the existing…