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

Crossposted at DKos. Graphs there are in wider format.

Updated numbers and commentary from Emmanuel Saez (h/t Krugman) reminds us just how bad things are and have been for a while.  One might hope that the current economic crisis does not divert our attention from the longer term issues.  

I would argue that pretty much all of our problems and issues, be it health care, education, environment, collapsing public infrastructure, jobs, trade, taxes, and yes right-wing populism can be directly linked to income and wealth inequality.  And the fact that inequality has gotten MUCH MUCH worse ever since 1979-1980 (I suggest looking up who became president in the United States at that time):

On the one hand, it is not just a U.S. story. Income inequality has risen throughout the developed world, according the OECD.

by Tommy Christopher (posted at the request of Alex Lawson).

Wednesday's DC Tax Day Tea Party may not have been huge, but it certainly was interesting. For 3 and a half hours, 500 or so people braved the at times heavy rain to express their frustration at a litany of ills. Although the demonstrations are ostensibly about taxes and government spending, the protesters' signs covered a wide range of topics.

While there were a few rousing chants by the crowd, there was far more heckling about the poor audio than anything else. One organizer apologized for having only "a little girl voice," to which a man in the crowd screamed "Then let someone else talk!"

Tax Solution to Wretched Greed

Joel S. Hirschhorn

I'm so happy I found this haven for lost diaries... Again, I posted this at the KOS and watched it slide down the great orange slopes. Again, it was rescued, and praised by a few diligent readers there. And, again, I bring it to you. Thank you for being here.

"I guess it depends if you're a half-glass empty guy or a half-glass full guy."
—George W. Bush

Ever get a parking ticket when you were a half-glass empty guy? Or maybe you were a full-glass full guy, in Bernie Madoff's old neighborhood, and you've had some million dollar months? A $100 equals a tenth of a grand a month, one ten-thousandth of a million. If you make $50,000 a year (a little above the median), that ticket is 0.024% of your monthly income. If you make $12 million  per year, it's 0.0001%, approximately 240 times less than the median American's unhappiness over the same violation.

A flat tax would be more fair than a flat fine. At least with flat income taxes, we'd all be paying the same percentage of our income.

Dwindling tax revenues force governments to look for ways to balance their budgets. Draconian nose amputations are showing up in emergency rooms all over America. More are on their way. Regressive taxes are just worsening the pain on the lowest earners.

Note: The cartoon is the logo of the real Joe the Plumber in Amarillo. Send him some business, I'm told that he's an Obama guy. If his website takes off because of all this attention maybe he can switch from actual plumbing to an online plumbing advice column. Bob

The wonderful world of our capitalist society, small c for the few that capitalize!

With trouble brewing inside mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Armen Keteyian reports that the nation is learning more and more about the companies and their friends in high places.

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

promoted --

Sometimes we need to see things differently to understand them fully. right now, I'm reading the book "Free Lunch" by David Cay Johnson. It details how the rich are twisting government policy to enrich themselves. No surprises here.

But this article isn't about railing against the rich, it's about looking at the structure of government differently. What we learn in school is that there are three branches of government: Congressional, Presidential and Judicial. In practice, we have a fourth branch of government which is comprised of a loose coalition of the super wealthy who use lobbying and campaign contributions to exert influence on the other three branches. Again, nothing new here.

I read this 3 page article in Reuters this morning which made my heart just a little bit lighter. I welcome anything that helps relieve the agony of these past months/years.....
excerpt:
Wall Street puts its money behind Obama

By Emily Kaiser - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wall Street is putting its money behind Democrat Barack Obama for president, despite worries that his administration would raise taxes and take a tougher line on trade and regulation.

Read more

OhioNews Bureau

ONB COLUMBUS: What do Ohioans facing home foreclosure and Shakespeare’s legendary Prince of Denmark have in common? Both hope a dream can help them escape “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

For the growing tide of Ohioans facing home foreclosure “to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub” could be one way to keep their American Dream of owning a home alive long enough for circumstances to change sufficiently to allow them to tell the wolf of foreclosure that prowls outside their door today to go away.

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.

Many of us are starting to prepare our 2007 taxes, but how many of us know what our tax dollars are actually paying for? FCNL calculates that 43 cents of every dollar {PDF} you'll pay in taxes go to pay for current and past military activities.

War Is Not the Answer!

Especially WARS Of CHOICE!

OhioNews Bureau

ONB COLUMBUS: Wind and snow are cooling off Ohio, as is the specter of an oncoming recession, that could further chill the state’s already ailing economy.

With light snow flakes falling as if they were blown off the canvass of a Norman Rockwell painting, the message Ohio Governor Ted Strickland offered today as a strategy to bolster the budget from the hungry jaws of economic recession probably didn’t warm the cockles of the hearts of state employees, many of whom could be offered early retirement buyouts to get them off the payroll.

In his latest blog, posted below with his permission, he suggests the way to stimulate the economy and avoid recession is to take the route of fairness. Now that's a radical proposal. here is the link to his blog

How to Avoid the Coming Recession

Read more