If you don't have an IRS then who will police to make sure everyone is paying the retail tax and who will police corporations and check their books, we know corp lawyers and accounts don't like paying any taxes.
Of course, there has to always be some level of enforcement. (However, businesses don't pay taxes; people do.) Those of us who promote a consumption tax, are referring to a complete overhaul of the current tax scam in the USA and enforced by the thugs known as the "IRS". There will, of course, be a need for enforcement at the retail level. Almost every state in the USA collects a state sales tax. It is the most transparent way of collecting a tax to run a government. Taxes should be collected at the cash register; not at the courthouse. Yet, the Internal Revenue "Service" is the particular agency which acts with Nazi/Gestapo tactics and operates with impunity, imposing it's "rules" on the citizens of this country. They will trick you, they will confuse you, they will handcuff you, they will jail you, and/or they will shoot you if they deem it "necessary" to make you compliant with what they interpret their "rules" to be. Yet, if I go buy a soft drink or a shirt, there's no problems at all. I buy the shirt, pay my tax, contribute to the operation of the government, and move on, so that I can worry about how well the Lakers will do next year, instead of worrying about taxes or some band of thugs coming after me. Did you see that wiseass IRS Commissioner Steven Miller when he was grilled by congress? Imagine being an average citizen trying to negotiate with those thugs. We have melted into a government by thuggery. Something is going to happen in the USA. I just don't know when or exactly what. I hope it will be a peaceful resolution. These two can help send us in that peaceful direction: www.fairtax.org www.lp,org THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.
Can we afford to put folks who understand depreciation, one of the most complex areas of tax law, into local branch offices of the IRS? I doubt it. The IRS expects you to go, at your expense, to a CPA or tax attorney for any complex issue. They don't pretend to have personnel in local offices that can take the place of tax experts. (I'm not defending these policies. I happen to think the tax code is absurdly complex. But I understand why you wouldn't be able to find anyone in a local IRS office that could help you with your depreciation problem.) Those folks are not expected to be able to do that kind of stuff. Most of my personal interaction with government people has been in Washington (or Bethesda), and mainly at the NIH. I served as an NIH consultant for a number of years, and I was very impressed with the high level of professionalism and the abilities of the NIH personnel. I have also been impressed with the efficiency with which the Social Security office seems to be run. And let us not forget that their main interaction is with older citizens, some of whom have dementia. They do a very good job of dealing with those situations. It is very popular to criticize the VA and the Immigration Services. I have a lot of not overly impressive indirect experience with the latter. Most likely in both cases the task they are being asked to do is beyond their resources. I doubt their failures have as much to do with incompetent personnel as they do with too few personnel at the middle levels-- those are the levels where things get done. So it seems that government employees run the entire gamut from very low level with minimum authority to very high level with great authority, but at each level I would say they are no less competent then what one might encounter in the private sector. For example the competence at NIH would be comparable to what you would find at one of the great research hospitals, and the TSA competence would be about the equivalent of what you would run into at Walmart. The IRS, a huge organization, would be layered in degrees of competence, like what you would find in the the armed forces -- high competence at the upper levels, and minimal at the lower levels. If I were to generalize, based on personal observation and experience, I would have to conclude that at each level the competence of government employees is as good as what you would encounter in the private sector at those same levels. In fact, the government my be slightly better at matching competence to job description than is the private sector. In any case, I don't think it is any worse. We have had annoying encounters with public servants who were less than helpful. My most annoying, in fact, have all been with elected public servants. But we have also had nightmare encounters with AT&T, Comcast, a particular airline, etc.
"We" sure seem to be able to "afford" just about everything else. I should NOT have to do that. I think local IRS reps should be able to accurately fill out ANY IRS form. We do agree on the absurd complexity of the tax code. I didn't notice where you mentioned any experience dealing with the FAA. Deal with those guys a few times and I think they might curb your enthusiasm for federal employee competence. That aside your point is taken. Even if I have reservations.
Filling out tax forms involves much more than just filling in the blanks. It's unreasonable to expect all IRS employees to be able to do anyone's taxes. There are business decisions and choices that only the filer can answer. It would be unwise to have a disinterested person helping you make those decisions. You either need the knowledge or get professional help. Concerning depreciation how is an IRS employee going to know which depreciation method is best for your situation...they can't. FYI section 179 deduction works best for most small businesses for fast depreciatating assets IMO.
True, but then I didn't ask nor expect them to do my taxes. I had already made the decision on which method to use, I just wanted to know how to fill out the form correctly.
It can be frustrating. I've had reasonable good experiences dealing with the IRS but if my wife ever talks to them they would rake her over the coals with threats and demands. I think they could smell the fear in her.
Do you realize you could be a GREAT stand-up comic?. You have a real gift for comedy. I'm serious about that! And thank God I've never had to deal with the FAA.
Wait a minute. You were wanting me to find women for you to sleep with but you have a wife? tsk tsk tsk. Bad boy BA. No wonder you don't want to believe in God.