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.
Armin Tahmasbi | Encapsulate
I’m a young entrepreneur and a Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering program at the University of Connecticut, working on “Drug Delivery Systems, Self-Assembled Nanoparticles & Microfluidic Devices”, in Storrs, CT, US. I’m working in Self-Assembled Functional Nanomaterials Laboratory, under the supervision of Prof. Mu-Ping Nieh on “Drug Delivery Systems for cancer therapy”. We’re developing a universal platform for encapsulating and smart delivery of a wide range of drug molecules and
Spencer Jones | Lineus Medical
Spencer worked for 3 years in direct patient care as a Certified Nursing Assistant, Licensed Practical Nurse, and as a Registered Nurse. Frustrated with the inefficiencies plaguing the healthcare system, he was determined to play a role in improving the delivery of healthcare. In 2014, Spencer won the annual ARK Challenge, an Arkansas based business accelerator. The product he developed was a dual lumen peripheral IV called the BVAD, which focuses on painless and uncontaminated blood draws.
Adeel Malik | CEO of Clearstep
While studying finance and neurobiology in undergrad, Adeel spent his time doing neuro-immunology research at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, contributing to several academic publications. After undergrad, Adeel was a strategy & analytics consultant with Accenture for several years where he worked with some of the largest institutions in healthcare across pharma, health tech, health systems, and retail clinics. Adeel’s skills in healthcare analytics, operations, sales, and his breadth of experience
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