Quantum Reality (Posts tagged irs)

1.5M ratings
277k ratings

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
cwicseolfor
politijohn

image
image
image

Source

image
5feet-of-anxiety

Just to be clear free file is still available just not the direct file program

cwicseolfor

Yep. Before you pay to file check out the free file program. Most people who don’t make 3x the poverty line income are eligible. You may still have to pay for state but often that reduces the whole cost to something more like $15. Some states may have their own free filing system and your local library can usually provide more info.

Yes, everyone else not residing in Mordor, it costs money for the expertise to navigate our deliberately obfuscatory tax system to avoid paying either too much, virtually penalizing the poor, or too little, very literally penalizing the poor as tax cheats and scofflaws, but for wealthy people it’s trivial to spend a couple days’ worth of a poor person’s wages so this is immaterial to them. People have fought incredibly hard to patch this system with volunteer preparers, law changes mandating at least some free option, and most lately the rollout of direct filing through the IRS’ own software, but this kakistocracy hates the poor that much.

blogquantumreality

Here is the IRS website that discusses Free File!

psa reblog irs taxes free file
phoenixiancrystallist
saywhat-politics

The IRS is launching an effort to crack down on 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes

WASHINGTON -- The IRS announced on Friday it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said that with a boost in federal funding and the help of artificial intelligence tools, the agency has new means of targeting wealthy people who have “cut corners" on their taxes.

“If you pay your taxes on time it should be particularly frustrating when you see that wealthy filers are not,” Werfel told reporters in a call previewing the announcement. He said 1,600 millionaires who owe at least $250,000 each in back taxes and 75 large business partnerships that have assets of roughly $10 billion on average are targeted for the new “compliance efforts."

Werfel said a massive hiring effort and AI research tools developed by IRS employees and contractors are playing a big role in identifying wealthy tax dodgers. The agency is making an effort to showcase positive results from its burst of new funding under President Joe Biden's Democratic administration as Republicans in Congress look to claw back some of that money.

“New tools are helping us see patterns and trends that we could not see before, and as a result, we have higher confidence on where to look and find where large partnerships are shielding income," he said.

elfwreck

This is what AI is good for: Analyzing data patterns that are too big for a single human brain to hold.

(This is also why it's not going away, and why we need to push companies into using it for what it's good at - data analysis & pattern recognition - and not trying to imitate human creativity for free, which it can't do.)

irs tax avoidance tax the rich excellent good ai
stillnotgoodatthis
phosphosilicate

pertaining specifically to the audit thing, the IRS have also been getting starved out of funds for the past couple of decades, decreasing their ability to provide revenue to the government and adding some wonderful systemic problems to the bureaucracy in addition to our tax code being a tire fire. The problem is that auditing rich people for tax is very expensive and time-consuming, because their finances are labyrinthine nightmares meant specifically to confound the IRS. However, auditing rich people for tax fraud is basically the only way you actually catch any tax fraud.

Since the IRS is getting their funding cut, they have to make themselves look useful so they can get their funding back, which means doing lots of audits. They can’t afford to audit lots of rich people, so instead they audit poor people, find nothing, waste their time, poor people’s time, and taxpayer money, and then do it again, in the hopes of actually being able to do their job some day. Damn thing’s rotting out.

gop-are-corporate-socialists

Worth the periodic reblog

lindstrom2020

The Democrats are fighting to increase IRS funding enough to audit the super-wealthy on a regular basis. Investing $40 billion in the IRS over the next decade is estimated to create about $105 billion in additional revenue because the IRS will be able to catch tax cheats at the super-wealthy level. Here’s the Congressional Business Office statement, and here’s an easier to read news article. As of May 29, 2022, the increased budget has not passed yet, due to the Republicans.

We don’t even have to pass new tax legislation - just increasing the number of auditors will bring in loads of money and tax the rich because ENFORCING THE LAWS we already have will bring in money.

I read tax returns as part of my job, and I can absolutely confirm that the ordinary people earning W2 wages are paying more in taxes than rich assholes who make their money from real estate and etc.

VOTE DEMOCRAT and accept that this won’t be fixed in one election cycle. We need time to build a consensus that’s strong enough that the Republicans can’t stonewall it, and that’s going to take time.

irs taxes psa reblog important us politics american politics for my american followers
npr

More Taxpayers Will Owe The IRS In April Due To Under-Withholding, Report Says

npr

More Americans will be writing a check to the IRS in April because their employers are not withholding enough from their paychecks following the new tax law, the Government Accountability Office says in a new report.

Based on simulations run by the Treasury Department, the GAO says taxes for 30 million Americans — 21 percent of taxpayers — are being under-withheld by their employers, meaning they are getting a larger check this year, but will owe at tax time in April. According to the simulations, 73 percent of taxpayers will be over-withheld and receive a refund from the Internal Revenue Service.

When the simulation was run as if there had been no change in the tax law, 18 percent of taxpayers, or about 27 million, would have experienced under-withholding and 76 percent would have been over-withheld. In both scenarios, just 6 percent of taxpayers would have the correct amount of withholding.

Who should be concerned? According to the GAO, a hypothetical taxpayer who is married with two children, earning $180,000 annually, $20,000 of which comes from non-wage income and who itemizes deductions.

Continue reading

Source: NPR
psa reblog taxation us taxation irs important
npr
npr:
“ It’s not every day that the Pennsylvania State Police call to say they have a warrant out for your arrest. But that’s exactly what happened to me in late March.
At least, that’s what the caller said was happening.
The voice on the other end of...
npr

It’s not every day that the Pennsylvania State Police call to say they have a warrant out for your arrest. But that’s exactly what happened to me in late March.

At least, that’s what the caller said was happening.

The voice on the other end of the line rattled off information about me — my full name, my email address, where I went to college, when I graduated — and told me I owed the IRS more than $7,000 for not paying taxes on a college scholarship.

When I sounded incredulous, he told me to look up the number that appeared on my caller ID as a kind of verification. It was, in fact, the number of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Then he told me I could make the whole thing go away by buying Apple gift cards and reading him the gift card number over the phone. He tried to convince me that the Apple store and my local grocery chain were “government certified locations,” and gift cards from those places were the equivalent of government bonds.

That’s when I realized it was a scam.

Not everyone is lucky enough to catch on right away. The IRS estimates that more than $65 million has been lost to phone tax scammers in the last five years. They’re most common during high tax season in March and April.

As Tax Day Approaches, Watch Out For Phone Scammers

Photo: mihailomilovanovic/Getty Images

Source: NPR
irs psa reblog important avoid scams
thetimeisneveright

IRS Scam

books-have-the-power

I don’t normally do big dramatic posts like this but the scariest shit happened to me today, so pay attention friends in America, because IRS Scams are happening. 

I was at work today, and get a call from a Washington number, i answered and it was recording telling me to call the number back, this is a final notice from the IRS. Well, naturally, that got my attention. 

I call the number, and a woman answers, says her name is Ashley Johnson. She tells me i’m being sued by the IRS for tax fraud and that there is a warrant put for my arrest. That DEFINITELY got my attention. 

I ask how is that possible? She tells me from the years of 2008-2012, my taxes were filed incorrectly, which has resulted in my owing the IRS over 6,000 dollars. I ask how this can be a final notice because I never received any correspondence from them. She then reads me my address, asks me to confirm it, and tells me 3 letters had been sent to my place of residence. 

I NEED TO POINT OUT HERE, I DID NOT GIVE HER MY ADDRESS. SHE ALREADY HAD IT. 

I tell her I’m genuinely confused about how this could possibly be happening, and she starts getting VERY nasty with me. She rambles off the facts she’d already presented to me again, very aggressively. I respond very calmly by saying that I’m being very receptive to what she is saying, I’m not being argumentative at all, and I just want to resolve this issue, that I don’t appreciate the way she is talking to me when I’m cooperating. 

She responds by informing me, again, that there is a warrant out for my arrest. 

I ask about a payment plan. My friend’s ex boyfriend had owed back taxes, and they set him up with a plan, so I knew it was an option. She says, yes, we can set that up. How much can you pay right now. 

I tell her I can’t pay anything right now, that I literally I’ve paycheck to paycheck and the soonest I could have any money at all is in two weeks when I get paid again. She tells me if I don’t pay 1,000 dollars right now she will send a deputy to arrest me. 

She asks if I have a credit card, I respond no. She asks how much money is in my savings account, and I respond by telling her I don’t have one, that I’m not trying to be difficult but I literally don’t have anything to give her. She gets very nasty with me again. 

At this point I’ve informed my coworker what is going on, and the woman she was ringing up at the register over heard. 

Back on the phone, I tell the woman once again I’m really trying to work with her and I don’t appreciate her speaking to me the way she is. 

At this point the customer and my coworker walk over. The customer tells me its a scam, don’t tell them anything. My coworker takes the phone from, and proceeds to tell the woman on the other line she’s my mother, and begins in on a conversation with her. 

From what I could hear, she’s being very nasty to my coworker as well, who is now demanding that the letters that were sent to my house be faxed to us immediately. My coworker finally says that she thinks this is a scam, that they can’t send anyone to arrest me. The woman on the other line finally hangs up on my coworker, and i promptly burst into tears. 

LISTEN TO ME. THE IRS WILL NEVER CALL YOU DEMANDING MONEY OVER THE PHONE. THEY WILL NOT DEMAND MONEY WITHOUT SENDING YOU A BILL FIRST. THEY WILL NOT ASK FOR YOUR CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE.

THEY WILL NOT THREATEN TO ARREST YOU. 

This is serious guys. Everyone take warning. Reblog this. Spread the word.

Friends with anxiety and or anyone prone to panic attacks, do not let them get to you. I spent the rest of the day having an anxiety attack, because some seriously terrible human beings were trying to do something truly terrible. 

Here’s a link to the IRS page that warns about scamming, and how to be on the lookout: 

https://www.irs.gov/uac/IRS-Urges-Public-to-Stay-Alert-for-Scam-Phone-Calls

There’s a link on this site to follow to report a scam if it happens to you.

DO NOT GIVE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION OUT. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER OR CREDIT/DEBIT CARD INFO.

Be safe out there, guys.

gameoftywinning

This is my cousin, and it absolutely happened to her today, so be safe guys.  

jenniferrpovey

They tried this on me. Fortunately I’m savvy and know how the IRS operates.

If you get this phone call, hang up, write down the time, and then go to https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1 and file a complaint. This helps the FTC (who’s responsibility it is) track who is getting these calls and in some cases can actually get them to stop.

If they call again after that, hang up.

If the IRS wants/needs to ask you for money they’ll send you a bill, not call you.

The scam is so prevalent that the IRS has posted guidelines for spotting the calls and another link to report the scam to them here: https://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Scam-Phone-Calls-Continue%3B-IRS-Identifies-Five-Easy-Ways-to-Spot-Suspicious-Calls

Here are a few more tips:

1. It is illegal for anyone calling you to ask for money by money transfer, electronic check or cash reload card.

2. It is illegal for a telemarketer not to identify themselves and their company when they call. In fact, they are supposed to do this before they say anything else. If they do not identify themselves as the first thing they do, hang up. They are either A. A scammer or B. Poorly trained.

3. If somebody calls claiming to be from a company you do business with and does one of the following:

a. Asks you for extra money.

b. Asks you for personal information, especially information that company should already have.

c. Does not give their name.

d. Refuses to deal with you without your spouse/partner also on the call.

e. Tells you you have a bad transaction on your credit card or bank account.

HANG UP.

Then call the company back. If the issue is legitimate, they will be able to verify it. If it is not, then they will be able to file a complaint.

Also hang up immediately if you have won a cruise, money or anything else, if they claim your computer has a virus (I always laugh at this one, because they tell me my Windows computer has a virus. I use a Mac and have no Windows license on it), or if it’s a recorded message (those things are the plague of modern life).

emotionalmorphine

This is also happening in Australia. People are receiving phone calls from the “Australian Taxation Department”, generally demanding that they pay money they apparently owe in back taxes. But they can also be offering tex return money that you can “claim” by paying fake administration fees.

My mom received one of these calls and despite not having worked for over 30 years they were quite clever and had information on health care benefits, too, saying that my mom owed money for her untaxed years. I took the phone from her and told them I knew it was a scam and hung up. Ten minutes later the same person rang back and said they were going to call the police and had a warrant for arrest. Of course, that didn’t happen as it was fake as.

But if you have elderly relatives or relatives who aren’t so keyed into these scammers, talk to them about it. Tell them how these scammers work.

The ATO may ring you from time to time but they will never:

- act aggressively or threaten you

- demand immediate payment over the phone or at a post office

- insist that the police will arrest you immediately if you do not pay

Here is the Facebook post made by the ATO:

image

If you’re ever in any doubt: HANG UP.  If in doubt about the authenticity of a call that you receive from the ATO, you can call them on 1800 008 540.

Keep your relatives safe. Inform them of the latest scams. Help them identify scammers and help them deal with nusciance phone calls.

gehayi

Here’s something I’ve done–thank them and say goodbye. They will be furious and insist that you need to talk to the IRS immediately. Tell them you know that, which is why you are going to call the IRS as soon as you get off the phone. After all, there are so many scammers out there.

The scammer is now in a bind. A real IRS agent would support this–and it is the last thing they want.

While they’re fumbling for an answer (or trying to scare you/call your bluff, hang up.

And then call the IRS immediately. Specifically, their line for frauds and hoaxes. Tell them everything you recall about the scam call, the person’s accent, etc. The odds are that the person who you speak to will be very kind, very knowledgeable and very reassuring. They do know that people are afraid of the taxman; that’s half the reason people believe scammers in the first place. (And the IRS will not find you suspect because these assholes called you.)

ofmoonlightandthesun

The IRS will send to snail mail if there is an issue. Trust me.

bayoread

This also applies to HMRC if you live in the United Kingdom.

They will NEVER call you and demand money over the phone, don’t fall for it.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/genuine-hmrc-contact-and-recognising-phishing-emails/genuine-hmrc-contact-and-recognising-phishing-emails

The link also covers phishing emails as well.

systlin

I’ve had this happen to me in the last couple weeks.

Reported their ass to the IRS scam line immediately.

blogquantumreality

Ditto for Revenue Canada: keep an eye (and ear) out, all!

tax scam irs internal revenue service hmrc revenue canada