Practical and Practice issues for Professionals who practice in the area of taxation. Moral, social and economic issues relating to taxes, including international issues, the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, state tax issues, etc. Not for "tax protestor" issues, which should be posted in the "tax protestor" forum above. The advice or opinion given herein should not be relied on for any purpose whatsoever. Also examines cookie-cutter deals that have no economic substance but exist only to generate losses, as marketed by everybody from solo practitioner tax lawyers to the major accounting firms.
Simmons, 42, who went from running a snow cone stand in Polytechnic Heights to acquiring a new strip shopping center valued at $860,000 and a $78,000 BMW, created bogus business expenses and invented children so clients could receive hefty refunds. Many are now being contacted by the Internal Revenue Service.
The Honorable Judge Roy Bean The world is a car and you're a crash-test dummy. The Devil Makes Three
You can imagine my frustration when, as an agent, I tried to get two "preparer projects" approved and was informed that "preparer projects" were not given any priority. Both were denied, both probably over 2 million in fraud refunds.
In one of those, a competitor of the fraudulent preparer was very helpful as the competitor was losing clients to the preparer.
This sort of article and my experience leads me to doubt very many people are filing honest returns, with the exception of squeaky clean types who have a dozen dependents or those who have a shot at public office where their returns will be in the public domain. I probably agonize too much over the ethical issues involved in signing a legal document such as a tax return. I once filed a return I knew under-reported some income following an unscrupulous preparers advice, and within a week I was given a bad check for a car and had no recourse. Call me superstitious, but lying has consequences, legal perjury has even greater ones. Those who suborn perjury need to be rooted out and prosecuted.
'There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)
'Choose loss rather than shameful gains.' (Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)
