Dear Fuzzy and friends,
Everyone who files a tax return knows the IRS has the right to ask for documentation to back up your numbers. The IRS has algorithms that they use to assess the likelihood that a taxpayer is fiddling with the books. You don't have to be a Fat Cat, however that is defined to be a tax cheat, or file an in inaccurate tax return out of ignorance. It is rare that criminal charges are filed unless the amount the government is cheated out of is in the Fat Cat range. 20 years ago I was told you needed to cheat north of 300K to be vulnerable to criminal charges. It might be close to a million now.
When I was about 35 years old I was called in for an audit. I had a lot of real estate deductions. I did the tax return by hand and it was not signed by an accountant. The computer algorithm did not like me, and generated a letter inviting me for the visit. At the end of it all, I wrote a check to the IRS for about $50.00 and that was that.
Tax cheats are literally stealing from the rest of us. Without reasonable IRS enforcement, being honest and paying up, no matter how unpleasant, and how much it crimps your plans to spend a week at a beach resort or whatever, makes one feel like a fool. It undermines the whole system. And with Covid, and the collapse of the service economy, and massive employment disruptions, the tax cheating has gone way up, as well as the cheating to get federal subsidies.
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/599371-irs-probe-finds-nearly-2-billion-in-covid-19-related-stimulus-fraud/It's long past time to rein it all in. Hiding behind so called "Fat Cats" just won't hunt. Thanks for listening.
