Breaking news from Utah -- FBI and Hazmat teams respond to a Utah IRS office; decontamination showers deployed.

Full story HERE.

According to initial reports, this is in relation to some white powder mailed to the office.

Tax-time is fast approaching, so expect to see a lot more humor circulating the internet along these lines:

At the end of the tax year, the IRS office sent an inspector to audit the books of a local hospital. While the IRS agent was checking the books he turned to the CFO of the hospital and said, "I notice you buy a lot of bandages. What do you do with the end of the roll when there's too little left to be of any use?"

"Good question," noted the CFO. "We save them up and send them back to the bandage company and every now and then they send us a free box of bandages."

"Oh," replied the auditor, somewhat disappointed that his unusual question had a practical answer. But on he went, in his obnoxious way.

"What about all these plaster purchases? What do you do with what's left over after setting a cast on a patient?"

"Ah, yes," replied the CFO, realizing that the inspector was trying to trap him with an unanswerable question. "We save it and send it back to the manufacturer, and every now and then they send us a free package of plaster."

"I see," replied the auditor, thinking hard about how he could fluster the know-it-all CFO.

"Well," he went on, "What do you do with all the leftover foreskins from the circumcisions you perform?"

"Here, too, we do not waste," answered the CFO. "What we do is save all the little foreskins and send them to the IRS Office, and about once a year they send us a complete dick."

Hat-tip lizart8 of DelphiForums.

I've seen a fair share of IRS-related horror stories, but I've also had the opportunity to work at the IRS, to work with and get to know people who worked at the IRS and who worked with people on taxes, and to work with people at the IRS who work with tax payers who have problems with relation to their returns (late / delinquent / missing returns, etc.), and what I've noted overall is that -- for the most part, in my direct experience, the people at the IRS aren't out to screw the average American taxpayer and will work to help ensure that the average taxpayer with their tax-related issues and responsibilities.

So, enjoy the jokes -- there are some definite dicks running about at the IRS and in nearly every business, government or otherwise -- but don't forget that it's humor. There are many, many hard-working individuals at all levels of the IRS who, like you, are also taxpayers and who take pride in their work. They strive to provide excellent customer service, and often have real reason to be proud in the often thankless tasks they perform. Give 'em a break.

And now, below the fold, please share any stories of success or strife that you may have stumbled across through the years.

This is an Open Thread.

For more information: www.irs.gov

This morning's WSJ has a sobering page 1 headline: States Slammed by Tax Shortfalls. The article by Conor Dougherty, Amy Merrick and Anton Troianovski paints the bleaking picture:

The stumbling U.S. economy is forcing states to slash spending and cut jobs in order to close a projected $40 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year.

The article goes on to inform us that they, the powers that be, are worried [editorial comment duh] about inflation and cuts to services.

In my little town that has been happening for over a year, and from Defuning's comment in an earlier thread, it's happening all over.

Oh, but that's because we are not part of the top 1%. Those guys in the upper atmosphere are sucking up all the oxygen. According to another WSJ article, this time in yesterday's edition, entitled charmingly Richest See Income Share Rise by Jesse Drucker:

The richest 1% of Americans in 2006 garnered the highest share of the U.S. adjusted gross income in two decades as their average tax rate fell,the IRS said.

This is a Good one, and what with the way our so called Capitalist Economy has been running for years now, I'm gonna enjoy reading this list, Really Enjoy!

Super Rich Tax Cheats Outed by Bank Clerk
Technician in Liechtenstein Turns Over Names of Americans With Secret Bank Accounts

What we could do with a few more honest disgruntled bank employee's

Posted with permission of Nicholas Benton, owner/editor of the Falls Church News Press.

IRS Backs Off Probe Of Obama’s Church

by Nicholas F. Benton

Sen. Barack Obama’s religious denomination of choice, the progressive, 1.2-million-member United Church of Christ, announced yesterday that the Internal Revenue Service has backed away from its controversial scrutiny of the church body.

originally posted 2008-02-20 04:21:28 - bumped cho

Via ThinkProgress:¹

A new article from the Philadelphia Inquirer has blown open the startling plans of the IRS to allow tax preparers for the first time to sell the tax returns of their customers.

The proposal came in a painfully technical tax regulation, which until now had attracted only a dozen public comments since it was announced in December. The proposal calls itself “not a significant regulatory action.” But the proposal is indeed significant, both for tax privacy and more broadly.

Until now, tax preparers could not sell tax returns to outside parties. Period. If they got taxpayer consent, they could use it for marketing, but only within their own corporate family.

The new proposal allows the tax preparers –- from your local accountant to giants such as H&R Block –- to get your signature and then give or sell the full tax return to data brokers, to your boss, to anyone. And there are absolutely no restrictions about what recipients do with the returns. The rule lets recipients post the full return to the Internet if they want.

(Hat-tip to Sarabeth from Delphiforums.)

This is not the first time that the privacy of US Tax Returns was under assault by the Republicans.

Remember the little "problem" that came to light in November of 2004, when Senator Istook slipped a provision into an Emergency Appropriations Bill that granted the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees -- and their assistants -- access to taxpayer returns, without subjecting them to any of the rules governing privacy or holding them accountable for any misuse?²

This seems to be a growing concern for Republicans. Apparently, our privacy isn't worth preserving, and exposing us to a highly increased risk of identity theft is apparently worthwhile.