Your Money

There is a good chance that our overly complex Tax Code may become  much simpler.
And, hopefully, that will happen in a not too distant future.

The National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) is required by law to submit annual reports to legislators.
In the most recent report NTA strongly suggests to Congress to take action and simplify the Tax Code.
This would greatly reduce the number of hours that both, individuals and businesses, put in to comply with the code’s requirements.

The NTA’s report also recommends that IRS needs to take a serious look at its ways of enforcing the tax laws.
And perhaps change the “enforcement” language to one of “service”.

An honest mistake
The Sullivan v. Comr. Tax Case makes a good example:
The taxpayer sent his tax return, with a check, to IRS.
By the due date.

The IRS demanded a late filing penalty from the taxpayer.
Why?
He forgot to sign his tax return.

Keep in mind, he DID sign the check.
Just forgot to sign the return.
Still, the Tax Court sided with the IRS — based on existing tax laws.
An honest mistake that shouldn’t be punishable to this extent

That being said: DO remember to sign your tax return before mailing it.
It’s the law.

80,000 pennies tax bill
Obviously not all taxpayers act benevolently around tax time.
A story from a previous tax year: taxpayer who REALLY tried to pay his tax bill in pennies.
He went to more than 10 banks to try to get together some 80,000 pennies to pay his tax bill.
After about three days of going from bank to bank he finally settled on paying through a combination of pennies and dollar bills.

The taxpayer in the second story: could he have spent the three days in a much more productive way?
Certainly.
Then again, maybe to him it was time well spent — he wanted to make a point.
(Also a way to promote oneself : )

One thing we can all agree on: the Tax Code needs some substantial changes.

Mariana Fieraru

Mariana Fieraru, an Eastern European transplant, fell in love with her new home shortly after landing in New York. She "discovered" pizza! Years later she still loves pizza. And so do her two feathered-kids, Sunny and Flipper

Mariana worked on both, the east and the west coast.
Big or small, each project she worked on helped define the importance of gaining and sustaining a competitive edge in an increasingly complex business environment.

Business know-how, love of teaching and writing – all combined in 2006 to form OBI.
Its mission: to make learning fun! And easy.

Through its training, consulting, and publications OBI builds bridges of knowledge to take you from where you are to
where you want to go. Using a mix of serious, informal, analytical, and optimistic approach, OBI truly makes learning fun.

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