Not that we are in love with the IRS however, the head of the agency made a strong point in saying that unless issues like Bush tax cuts are not addressed by Congress until after the 2012 elections, we will see a disaster occur in 2013. Heck, the economy is not doing well and to add this element of uncertainty is malfeasance.
We would add that the lack of a budget points out that Congress has lost its way. Our Senators
sit in Washington and have not passed a budget in over three years, that is
deplorable. In fact, that is dereliction of duty. They can pass meaningless bills to name libraries
and other government buildings but they cannot do one of the primary duties of a legislator which
is to pass a budget. What a crock and any sitting Senator running for re-election should be
shown the door in November!
The entire system seems to be a disaster. No one is doing what is "in the best interests of the
country." Instead they are either doing what is in their own best interests, doing what their
caucuses says to do, going to fund raisers, or missing in action. In other words, doing nothing
productive. This has to stop and it should stop now.
These upcoming elections are pivotal and we must install more people in Congress (and the
White House) who will do what is right for the country regardless of party affiliation! Are you
with me?
Conservative Tom
Congress inaction risks 2013 tax "disaster": IRS chief
- U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas Shulman speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Washington October 8, 2009. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commissioner of the U.S. tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service warned on Thursday of "a real disaster" for taxpayers next year should Congress miss a December 31 deadline to decide on billions in major tax provisions.
Congress is expected to wait until after Election Day, November 6, to take up whether to extend the individual income tax cuts passed under former president George W. Bush that expire at the end of 2012.
Most Democrats and President Barack Obama want to extend all but the top two tax brackets, allowing taxes to increase for high-income earners. Republicans want to extend the lower rates for all income groups.
A 2010 "lame duck" session deadlock to extend the Bush tax cuts delayed the start of the tax filing season in early 2011.
Allowing the pending tax decisions to lapse into 2013 will cause confusion for taxpayers, said Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington.
"We're going to have real risk in the system" if Congress delays, Shulman said.
"You could have a real disaster in the filing season where there's total confusion," especially for the alternative minimum tax "patch," he said.
The alternative minimum tax is a parallel tax system that applies to higher-income taxpayers. A legislative fix to index it for inflation must be approved before year's end to prevent the tax from hitting taxpayers in lower income brackets.
In the absence of congressional action by January 1, the IRS might be forced to delay the tax-filing season, which begins promptly with the new year, Shulman said.
As it is, Congress faces a huge workload for the two-month lame-duck period after the elections when about $650 billion of tax and spending provisions expire.
Shulman, appointed by President George W. Bush and now in the last year of a five-year term, defended IRS's regulation of 501(c)4 groups, including Tea Party organizations, which have received IRS letters asking questions about their political work.
For any non-profit groups that raise red flags, the IRS will "go out and do an audit and gather more facts," Shulman said in response to a question about IRS investigations into the non-profit groups.
Shulman also touted stronger IRS international enforcement efforts for businesses and individuals.
The agency has hired private-sector experts to better catch businesses that aggressively shift assets and profits offshore.
The new enforcers will help the IRS keep pace with corporations' evolving tax strategies, Shulman said.
Tax professionals have doubted whether the IRS has the muscle to enforce these "transfer pricing" disputes.
Transfer pricing is a booming field of global tax law. It involves multinational corporations moving goods, services and assets from one subsidiary to another in different countries and how they account for these "transfers."
(Rep
Reuters – 2 hours 37 minutes ago
Reuters – 2 hours 37 minutes ago
Congress inaction risks 2013 tax "disaster": IRS chief
Reuters – 2 hours 37 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas Shulman speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Washington October 8, 2009. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commissioner of the U.S. tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service warned on Thursday of "a real disaster" for taxpayers next year should Congress miss a December 31 deadline to decide on billions in major tax provisions.
Congress is expected to wait until after Election Day, November 6, to take up whether to extend the individual income tax cuts passed under former president George W. Bush that expire at the end of 2012.
Most Democrats and President Barack Obama want to extend all but the top two tax brackets, allowing taxes to increase for high-income earners. Republicans want to extend the lower rates for all income groups.
A 2010 "lame duck" session deadlock to extend the Bush tax cuts delayed the start of the tax filing season in early 2011.
Allowing the pending tax decisions to lapse into 2013 will cause confusion for taxpayers, said Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington.
"We're going to have real risk in the system" if Congress delays, Shulman said.
"You could have a real disaster in the filing season where there's total confusion," especially for the alternative minimum tax "patch," he said.
The alternative minimum tax is a parallel tax system that applies to higher-income taxpayers. A legislative fix to index it for inflation must be approved before year's end to prevent the tax from hitting taxpayers in lower income brackets.
In the absence of congressional action by January 1, the IRS might be forced to delay the tax-filing season, which begins promptly with the new year, Shulman said.
As it is, Congress faces a huge workload for the two-month lame-duck period after the elections when about $650 billion of tax and spending provisions expire.
Shulman, appointed by President George W. Bush and now in the last year of a five-year term, defended IRS's regulation of 501(c)4 groups, including Tea Party organizations, which have received IRS letters asking questions about their political work.
For any non-profit groups that raise red flags, the IRS will "go out and do an audit and gather more facts," Shulman said in response to a question about IRS investigations into the non-profit groups.
Shulman also touted stronger IRS international enforcement efforts for businesses and individuals.
The agency has hired private-sector experts to better catch businesses that aggressively shift assets and profits offshore.
The new enforcers will help the IRS keep pace with corporations' evolving tax strategies, Shulman said.
Tax professionals have doubted whether the IRS has the muscle to enforce these "transfer pricing" disputes.
Transfer pricing is a booming field of global tax law. It involves multinational corporations moving goods, services and assets from one subsidiary to another in different countries and how they account for these "transfers."
Congress inaction risks 2013 tax "disaster": IRS chief
Reuters – 2 hours 37 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas Shulman speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Washington October 8, 2009. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commissioner of the U.S. tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service warned on Thursday of "a real disaster" for taxpayers next year should Congress miss a December 31 deadline to decide on billions in major tax provisions.
Congress is expected to wait until after Election Day, November 6, to take up whether to extend the individual income tax cuts passed under former president George W. Bush that expire at the end of 2012.
Most Democrats and President Barack Obama want to extend all but the top two tax brackets, allowing taxes to increase for high-income earners. Republicans want to extend the lower rates for all income groups.
A 2010 "lame duck" session deadlock to extend the Bush tax cuts delayed the start of the tax filing season in early 2011.
Allowing the pending tax decisions to lapse into 2013 will cause confusion for taxpayers, said Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington.
"We're going to have real risk in the system" if Congress delays, Shulman said.
"You could have a real disaster in the filing season where there's total confusion," especially for the alternative minimum tax "patch," he said.
The alternative minimum tax is a parallel tax system that applies to higher-income taxpayers. A legislative fix to index it for inflation must be approved before year's end to prevent the tax from hitting taxpayers in lower income brackets.
In the absence of congressional action by January 1, the IRS might be forced to delay the tax-filing season, which begins promptly with the new year, Shulman said.
As it is, Congress faces a huge workload for the two-month lame-duck period after the elections when about $650 billion of tax and spending provisions expire.
Shulman, appointed by President George W. Bush and now in the last year of a five-year term, defended IRS's regulation of 501(c)4 groups, including Tea Party organizations, which have received IRS letters asking questions about their political work.
For any non-profit groups that raise red flags, the IRS will "go out and do an audit and gather more facts," Shulman said in response to a question about IRS investigations into the non-profit groups.
Shulman also touted stronger IRS international enforcement efforts for businesses and individuals.
The agency has hired private-sector experts to better catch businesses that aggressively shift assets and profits offshore.
The new enforcers will help the IRS keep pace with corporations' evolving tax strategies, Shulman said.
Tax professionals have doubted whether the IRS has the muscle to enforce these "transfer pricing" disputes.
Transfer pricing is a booming field of global tax law. It involves multinational corporations moving goods, services and assets from one subsidiary to another in different countries and how they account for these "transfers."
(Reporting by Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Howard Goller and Philip Barbara)
Congress inaction risks 2013 tax "disaster": IRS chief
Reuters – 2 hours 37 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas Shulman speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Washington October 8, 2009. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commissioner of the U.S. tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service warned on Thursday of "a real disaster" for taxpayers next year should Congress miss a December 31 deadline to decide on billions in major tax provisions.
Congress is expected to wait until after Election Day, November 6, to take up whether to extend the individual income tax cuts passed under former president George W. Bush that expire at the end of 2012.
Most Democrats and President Barack Obama want to extend all but the top two tax brackets, allowing taxes to increase for high-income earners. Republicans want to extend the lower rates for all income groups.
A 2010 "lame duck" session deadlock to extend the Bush tax cuts delayed the start of the tax filing season in early 2011.
Allowing the pending tax decisions to lapse into 2013 will cause confusion for taxpayers, said Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington.
"We're going to have real risk in the system" if Congress delays, Shulman said.
"You could have a real disaster in the filing season where there's total confusion," especially for the alternative minimum tax "patch," he said.
The alternative minimum tax is a parallel tax system that applies to higher-income taxpayers. A legislative fix to index it for inflation must be approved before year's end to prevent the tax from hitting taxpayers in lower income brackets.
In the absence of congressional action by January 1, the IRS might be forced to delay the tax-filing season, which begins promptly with the new year, Shulman said.
As it is, Congress faces a huge workload for the two-month lame-duck period after the elections when about $650 billion of tax and spending provisions expire.
Shulman, appointed by President George W. Bush and now in the last year of a five-year term, defended IRS's regulation of 501(c)4 groups, including Tea Party organizations, which have received IRS letters asking questions about their political work.
For any non-profit groups that raise red flags, the IRS will "go out and do an audit and gather more facts," Shulman said in response to a question about IRS investigations into the non-profit groups.
Shulman also touted stronger IRS international enforcement efforts for businesses and individuals.
The agency has hired private-sector experts to better catch businesses that aggressively shift assets and profits offshore.
The new enforcers will help the IRS keep pace with corporations' evolving tax strategies, Shulman said.
Tax professionals have doubted whether the IRS has the muscle to enforce these "transfer pricing" disputes.
Transfer pricing is a booming field of global tax law. It involves multinational corporations moving goods, services and assets from one subsidiary to another in different countries and how they account for these "transfers."
(Reporting by Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Howard Goller and Philip Barbara)
Congress inaction risks 2013 tax "disaster": IRS chief
Reuters – 2 hours 37 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas Shulman speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Washington October 8, 2009. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commissioner of the U.S. tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service warned on Thursday of "a real disaster" for taxpayers next year should Congress miss a December 31 deadline to decide on billions in major tax provisions.
Congress is expected to wait until after Election Day, November 6, to take up whether to extend the individual income tax cuts passed under former president George W. Bush that expire at the end of 2012.
Most Democrats and President Barack Obama want to extend all but the top two tax brackets, allowing taxes to increase for high-income earners. Republicans want to extend the lower rates for all income groups.
A 2010 "lame duck" session deadlock to extend the Bush tax cuts delayed the start of the tax filing season in early 2011.
Allowing the pending tax decisions to lapse into 2013 will cause confusion for taxpayers, said Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington.
"We're going to have real risk in the system" if Congress delays, Shulman said.
"You could have a real disaster in the filing season where there's total confusion," especially for the alternative minimum tax "patch," he said.
The alternative minimum tax is a parallel tax system that applies to higher-income taxpayers. A legislative fix to index it for inflation must be approved before year's end to prevent the tax from hitting taxpayers in lower income brackets.
In the absence of congressional action by January 1, the IRS might be forced to delay the tax-filing season, which begins promptly with the new year, Shulman said.
As it is, Congress faces a huge workload for the two-month lame-duck period after the elections when about $650 billion of tax and spending provisions expire.
Shulman, appointed by President George W. Bush and now in the last year of a five-year term, defended IRS's regulation of 501(c)4 groups, including Tea Party organizations, which have received IRS letters asking questions about their political work.
For any non-profit groups that raise red flags, the IRS will "go out and do an audit and gather more facts," Shulman said in response to a question about IRS investigations into the non-profit groups.
Shulman also touted stronger IRS international enforcement efforts for businesses and individuals.
The agency has hired private-sector experts to better catch businesses that aggressively shift assets and profits offshore.
The new enforcers will help the IRS keep pace with corporations' evolving tax strategies, Shulman said.
Tax professionals have doubted whether the IRS has the muscle to enforce these "transfer pricing" disputes.
Transfer pricing is a booming field of global tax law. It involves multinational corporations moving goods, services and assets from one subsidiary to another in different countries and how they account for these "transfers."
(Reporting by Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Howard Goller and Philip Barbara)
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