IRS awards bonuses to 1,100 who owe back taxes

[Muushka]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-22-16-25-14

I'm speechless. Can anyone defend this?

 

[clh2]

I am going to try to be brief with my opinion.

So-a few weeks ago, there was a story about the IRS withholding a tax refund on the oldest sibling in a family because it was determined that one of her parents was accidentally overpaid about 30 years ago.

And now we are seeing the IRS paying bonuses to their. employees that do not even know how to pay their own taxes?

If the IRS didn't garnish the bonuses for past-due taxes, they were negligent.

Ok, I'm stopping before I get into trouble!

 

[clh2]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-22-16-25-14

I'm speechless. Can anyone defend this?

Forgot the rule!

 

[dawnball]

Can anyone defend this?

I can explain it at least. The union contract says that performance bonuses can't be withheld for disciplinary reasons (and tax issues are a disciplinary issue when you work for the IRS) unless it "is necessary to protect the integrity of the Service."

 

[bumbershoot]

And in the article:

The report said the IRS considers prior conduct before awarding permanent pay increases. "However, IRS officials stated that the IRS generally does not consider conduct issues when administering other types of awards," the report said.

 

[wishuponastar42]

Forgot the rule!

The rule should be is if you can't handle taking care of your own taxes you shouldn't be working for the IRS. How can they trust someone to deal with everyone else's taxes if they don't have their own in order?

 

[havaneselover]

Appalled but not the least bit surprised. Can't wait until the irs begins policing everyone's health care choices.

 

[christineann]

This is really comforting to me (not).

I have been fighting the IRS since 2007, when they audited me and determined that the Care Credit account that was used to pay for a dental implant for my dependent child was actually a reimbursement(!) by health insurance and that I was cheating on my taxes. Every IRS rep I've spoken with has said he/she knows what Care Credit is, that it was a mistake, and that I will be reimbursed for the taxes and penalties I paid to stop the mounting fees they were charging me. It's been 7 years, and I still have not received my money back (only "we're still investigating"). It's not as if I make a lot of money.

What a failed system, from top to bottom.

 

[Muushka]

I can explain it at least. The union contract says that performance bonuses can't be withheld for disciplinary reasons (and tax issues are a disciplinary issue when you work for the IRS) unless it "is necessary to protect the integrity of the Service."

Yup, I read that. In my opinion, not a defense. The union contract needs to be revised. ASAP. Common sense should prevail. This is a travesty.

The rule should be is if you can't handle taking care of your own taxes you shouldn't be working for the IRS. How can they trust someone to deal with everyone else's taxes if they don't have their own in order?

I think the rule that clh2 was referring to is including the quote. And what you said:

This is really comforting to me (not).

I have been fighting the IRS since 2007, when they audited me and determined that the Care Credit account that was used to pay for a dental implant for my dependent child was actually a reimbursement(!) by health insurance and that I was cheating on my taxes. Every IRS rep I've spoken with has said he/she knows what Care Credit is, that it was a mistake, and that I will be reimbursed for the taxes and penalties I paid to stop the mounting fees they were charging me. It's been 7 years, and I still have not received my money back (only "we're still investigating"). It's not as if I make a lot of money.

What a failed system, from top to bottom.

What a nightmare for you. I really hope that it is resolved very soon. I can't imagine what you've been going through. We were audited a few years ago for something specific on our tax return. We answered the challenge and I was stunned that they actually understood what we did and we were all clear.

I am going to try to be brief with my opinion.

So-a few weeks ago, there was a story about the IRS withholding a tax refund on the oldest sibling in a family because it was determined that one of her parents was accidentally overpaid about 30 years ago.

And now we are seeing the IRS paying bonuses to their. employees that do not even know how to pay their own taxes?

If the IRS didn't garnish the bonuses for past-due taxes, they were negligent.

Ok, I'm stopping before I get into trouble!

Do you really believe that they don't know how to pay their own taxes? I am certain for most it is a choice. Not ignorance.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I am going to try to be brief with my opinion.

So-a few weeks ago, there was a story about the IRS withholding a tax refund on the oldest sibling in a family because it was determined that one of her parents was accidentally overpaid about 30 years ago.

.......

This is supposed to stop:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...dd702c-c97a-11e3-a75e-463587891b57_story.html

 

[Muushka]

The stunning thing was their attempt to do it in the first place.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The stunning thing was their attempt to do it in the first place.

Yes, this was absolutely outrageous.

 

[Jeff_G]

We need to do away with this system and move to a national retail sales tax. No more forms, no more ambiguity, lower cases of cheating, rule the same for every one. Just like state / city sales tax they can exclude food and medicine.

 

[mikehn]

This is like losing 75 cents in the coke machine. There's a whole lot worse going on in the federal govt. Wake me up when you find something.

 

[Muushka]

This is like losing 75 cents in the coke machine. There's a whole lot worse going on in the federal govt. Wake me up when you find something.

Oh, sorry. Silly me. I guess it doesn't matter that tax dollars are wasted.
No wonder they know they will get away with it, and simply don't care.

 

[Dakota731]

Scary stuff to think how much more power they will be given (From Forbes Magazine)

The IRS needs to hire thousands of additional agents in order to enforce the mandates from the ACA.

To enforce the individual mandate, the IRS needs to know whether or not you have purchased insurance this year. It will also need to know the specific insurance policy you have, in order to ensure that it meets ACA “minimum essential coverage” requirement.

To enforce the employer mandate, the IRS needs the same information from employers in terms of the specific policies employers purchase for their workers, and also the hours worked by every part-time employee. In addition, your employer will need to know what your household income is, in order to ensure that the coverage it offers you is “affordable” to you by the law’s definition.

 

[Dakota731]

This is like losing 75 cents in the coke machine. There's a whole lot worse going on in the federal govt. Wake me up when you find something.

Sad thing is that a lot of people aren't outraged until it affects them personally. A friend of mine never wanted to talk about the ACA until her health insurance was cancelled and now she is furious. It's okay when someone else's freedoms are taken away - we don't want to get involved. Some people have their heads buried in the sand and as long as they have their facebook, Iphones and can eat out at Outback on Saturday nights then life is good. Too bad if our country is falling apart at an alarming rate as long as it doesn't affect the little bubble we live in.

 

[supersnoop]

Oh, sorry. Silly me. I guess it doesn't matter that tax dollars are wasted. No wonder they know they will get away with it, and simply don't care.

In what way were tax dollars wasted? Per the employment agreements in place, those people were due their bonus. Afterwards, an auditor suggested that the performance bonus should take into account additional factors, and now the IRS is working to implement that change. Frankly, this media depiction of events has manipulated people into being outraged by a normal process that's already being updated to address the perceived concern here.

 

[timmac]

I think the outrage here is due to people conflating the role of the IRS as these individuals' employer with the role of the IRS in handling taxes for the country.

Are we talking about individuals who owed so much back tax, and for such a length of time that the IRS had gone through the normal channels and process (as they would for anyone not working for the IRS), to do wage garnishments? Admittedly I don't know the details at that level, but my strong suspicion is that is not what we are dealing with here.

Far more likely we are talking about a pretty common scenario where someone owes some taxes, and the IRS sends them a letter explaining the charges. From that point, there are still many legally prescribed steps (and possibly as much as several years time) before wage garnishment would even be part of the equation. Just like it would be for any of us not working for the IRS. I suspect I'm not the only one who has ever gotten a tax bill for money owed, yet still gotten an expected bonus from work during that time. (Which I shortly thereafter used part of to pay said taxes)

If anything, I'd be outraged to find out that IRS employees who happen to owe back taxes were not being given the same process as prescribed for everyone else.

Is it ironic that this is the case? Sure. An outrage? Not so much.

 

[dawnball]

I think the outrage here is due to people conflating the role of the IRS as these individuals' employer with the role of the IRS in handling taxes for the country.

Yes, and not everyone who works for the IRS actually has anything to do with handling taxes. Just like every other company, there are a wide variety of roles that need to be filled.

About 1.1% of all IRS employees owe back taxes, compared to 8.2% of overall US taxpayers. In comparison, they're not doing so badly.