Published by Bob on 02 Feb 2009 at 02:00 pm
Is “I’m Sorry” The New IRS Approved Excuse?
Would the “I’m sorry I made a mistake” excuse actually work with the IRS?
I mean there seems to be a flurry of potential Obama cabinet appointees who “forgot - overlooked” etc, paying their taxes - some for years. Including the new Treasury Secretary.
And guess what? So far the congress has “forgiven” these people and approved their appointments.
So here’s my question?
Can you expect the same “forgiveness” from the IRS?
Probably not! You see, if you don’t pay your taxes - regardless of the excuse - you are usually charged a fine - sometimes jail time too.
Even if it’s not your fault - like faulty software or an incompetent tax preparer. You’ll still be liable.
So, out of fairness I propose the following:
A blanket “forgiveness” for all first time tax mistakes!
If you’re audited - and a mistake is found - you get automatic forgiveness if it’s your first time making a specific mistake. You have to pay the taxes due - but no fine.
I mean, since the new head of the Treasury Department didn’t have his personal income tax mistakes hold up his appointment - maybe we’re looking at a new era of forgiveness being ushered in by the new administration?
Hey the banks made horrible mistakes that have collapsed the financial system - and their getting bailed out with billions. Nobody got fired. No criminal charges have been brought against the perps.
Will that same forgiveness trickle down to you and me if we ever make a mistake on our taxes?
Dream on.
Miki Davis on 03 Feb 2009 at 6:11 pm #
Bob,
One small point here — these tax scofflaws did eventually pay their tax liability plus quite hefty interest and fines. I’m just not sure if they were caught first, or voluntarily fessed up, or if one of the people/groups in opposition to their appointment dug deep enough to find these things out. The reports sounded to me like they had settled all of these problems and paid off the IRS before the Obama era.
But as you know, the Senate is still a “Good ‘Ol Boys network” which may have played its part in this whole thing.
In the long run, though, I tend to forgive someone one lapse, but they better never do the same thing a second time. One of my favorite old sayings is, “Once, shame on you. Twice, shame on me!”
Miki
Miki