An interesting bit of news has come out about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). According to an audit of the agency and the tax debt they tried to collect from 2012, there was nearly $7 billion in lost taxes collected because the taxpayer couldn’t be found and, thus, the tax debt couldn’t be collected. However, the audit found that in 57 percent of these cases, IRS employees didn’t follow the proper protocol to collect the tax debt.
What this means for the future of IRS tax collecting remains unclear, but it would probably be a safe bet to say that the IRS will step up its enforcement of its own protocols and its collecting efforts in general. This could mean that more audits will happen; that incorrect tax filings will be pursued more aggressively by the IRS; and/or that those who still owe taxes to the government will be in trouble in the near future.
What is undeniable is that the job of the IRS to collect taxes is an incredible task, and it seems a given that some mistakes will be made. Some taxes will get missed, and some filings will get passed along as acceptable when really they shouldn’t be. This doesn’t mean you should be sloppy when filing your taxes, or try to deceive the IRS in any way. It is simply recognizing that the behemoth of a task the IRS is charged with means that mistakes will be made.
When mistakes are made by the IRS, sometimes it is the taxpayer who suffers. When a complicated tax case is set before you, you need to consult with an attorney to make sure that your situation is handled properly.
Source: Washington Times, “IRS doesn’t do enough to collect on tax debts: audit,” Stephen Dinan, Sept. 29, 2014
