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.
California Going After Tax-Evaders
We have discussed the federal government’s efforts to track down tax-evaders many times before, but the IRS isn’t the only tax agency looking to crack down on those who don’t pay their fair share of taxes. The California Franchise Tax Board is in the middle of a five-and-a-half-year effort to automatically find and identify noncompliant…
The IRS is Not a Bully, No.4
The IRS is Not a Bully You can poke a bully in the nose. Palo Alto, CA. July 4, 2014 – This is the Fourth installment of “The IRS is Not a Bully” series, identifying taxpayer concerns and the difficult position in which Congress puts the IRS. Namely, applying ever increasing pressure to operate in…
New Jersey Dems Looking to Tax the Rich Even More
New Jersey Dems Looking to Tax the Rich Even More The rich are already taxed enough, right? Although many would disagree with this statement, unfortunately there are others who think that no matter how much they take from them, the rich can’t ever be taxed too much. To that end, democratic lawmakers in New Jersey…
What to Do About Corporate Taxes?
What to Do About Corporate Taxes? The debate over corporate taxes has raged for years, but even though the battle has been going on for decades, it has definitely experienced some changes. The business world, and the world in general, has changed since the days when Ronald Reagan was in office. That means politicians have…