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IRS Employees’ Extra Week of Vacation Has a Few Conditions

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

Condition 1: They won't be paid; Condition 2: Jesus, does it matter? They won't be paid.  

David Cay Johnston has the scoop:

The IRS told employees Friday that it will shut down entirely for five days because of the across-the-board spending cuts mandated by Congress.
 
All IRS employees received an email Friday that cited five dates and said: 
 
All public-facing operations will be closed on these dates, including our toll-free operations and Taxpayer Assistance Centers. Some mission-essential IT and security personnel, who maintain systems and building safety, may need to work on these furlough days, however they will be taking furlough days on alternative dates within those pay periods. Everyone is covered by this furlough, and that means everyone from the Acting Commissioner and executives to managers and employees.
The five definite days are May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22, and August 30, although DCJ reports that Colleen Kelley, the union president, said two more furlough days are possible. 
 
And just for grins — well, not really — some IRS employees are taking it to the streets: 
On Monday IRS workers in lower Manhattan plan a public protest to the cuts and what some of them say is pressure for the highest paid auditors, who make $150,000 annually, to leave the agency.
NBD. It's nothing a Deloitte hiring bonanza can't solve!
 
 

 

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Why Snoop Dogg’s Latest Tax Problem Isn’t a Surprise

Seriously. Does anyone think that Snoop Dogg forgetting about his taxes is that much of a stretch? He’s got to have the money; the Starsky & Hutch royalties alone should be able to settle the $598-odd thousand lien that the IRS slapped on him.

So the only plausible explanation is that he forget to pay the taxes. He’s got the regular day-to-day celebrity issue that Nicolas Cage or Eve may have but come on people. His daily ritual consists of choosing between White Widow, Hollands Hope or Northern Lights (or whatever strain he wants, really); has it occurred to anyone that it may have slipped his mind?

D-O-Double G got hit with a lien last year too so isn’t this the kind of tax compliance we’ve come to expect anyway? It’s basically like you scrounging around for your keys every morning. It’s the routine.

Yes, we suppose that he could hire a CPA to take care of his business affairs but we’re guessing that may have escaped the mental to-do list too. NBD, really. See you next year Snoop.

IRS Sticks It to Amateur Tax Preparers

Thumbnail image for shulman.jpgAny tax preparers out there that got their stripes by virtue of an 8 hour course in the basement of a church will have to start hitting the books. Today, the IRS announced that it is putting a stop to all the amateur 1040 jockeys out there by issuing new requirements for all paid tax preparers.

The new requirements came after complaints from taxpayer rights’ groups who wanted stronger oversight over the industry. Apparently there are too many “tax professionals” that can’t tell the difference between a W-2 and a sack of doorknobs.

WSJ:

[S]tarting in 2011, all paid tax preparers will have to register with the IRS and include a unique identification number on any returns they prepare. Preparers will be given three years to pass a competency exam in either individual or small business taxation.

Attorneys, certified public accountants and enrolled agents will not be required to pass the competency tests. They will remain subject to the requirements of their respective licensing bodies.

But the exams and new annual, continuing education requirements will impact likely hundreds of thousands of preparers, from employees of chain preparation firms like H&R Block Inc. and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. to mom-and-pop storefronts that offer tax preparation as one of several services.

Three years to pass an exam? Even the dimmest of CPA Exam candidates manage to finish in 18 months. Also, we’re curious as to what diabolical plot the H&R Blocks and Jackson Hewitts of the world will devise in order to speed their professionals into compliance.

Regardless of the shortfalls, Doug “Don’t expect me to apologize” Shulman said that the new requirements were ‘long overdue’. He also said that the Service will be forming a task force to look into determining the accuracy of tax prep software for possible future standards over that industry.

One thing is for sure, somewhere Doug’s boss is asking his friends if they know any good CPAs.

IRS to Boost Oversight of Paid Tax Preparers [WSJ]