Tax Guru-Ker$tetter Letter

Friday, January 21, 2005

IRS Must Get Grip on Tax Gap, Taxpayer Advocate Says – As I’ve explained on several occasions previously, I have tried to track down how IRS calculates the “tax gap” and they have admitted that they make the numbers up in order to justify more money and power for themselves. Since such a gap is by definition unknowable, they claim that their guess is as good as anyone else’s.

Having been in the tax profession for 30 years now and having reviewed the tax returns of thousands of people, I know that the popular wisdom that everybody cheats on their taxes is flat out wrong. Most people are so frightened of the IRS, as well as incapable of understanding the insane tax code, that they actually over-pay their taxes and don’t claim all of the deductions to which they are legally entitled.

- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 1/21/2005 10:24:00 PM Send this post: