The RUNDOWN Report; “Taxpayers should remember that with Google Maps and Google Street View auditors can check out your home and if there’s a nice new car or boat in the driveway, they can see that,” warns Joe Mastriano, a Houston CPA who specializes in IRS audits.
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Report: IRS vendor owed $525 million in back taxes
The Internal Revenue Service has been doing business with nearly 1,200 vendors that owe back taxes, including one unnamed contractor that owed a whopping $525 million, a new inspector general’s report says.
Altogether, 1,168 IRS vendors owed back taxes totaling $589 million as of July 2012, according to the report released Tuesday. Only 50 were in a payment plan to pay off their debt.
“When the IRS conducts business with vendors that do not comply with federal tax laws, it conveys a contradictory message in relation to its mission to ensure compliance with the tax laws,” said J. Russell George, Treasury inspector general for tax administration.
The IRS checks whether vendors owe back taxes when the agency awards contracts, the IRS said. But the IRS doesn’t continuously monitor whether vendors are current in their tax bills after contracts are awarded, the report said.
George has recommended the IRS require an annual tax check for all contractors, but the agency says federal acquisition regulations don’t authorize them.
The inspector general’s office is prohibited by law from revealing the name of any delinquent vendors, including the one that owed $525 million. The report says most of the back taxes, including the biggest, were delinquent for less than a year.
About 7% of IRS vendors owed back taxes, the report said. However, it suggested the IRS may have been an unwilling business partner with most of them.
This would make a great talker for radio. Isn’t the mission of the IRS to make sure individuals and companies file and pay their taxes? How can the IRS do business with vendors who aren’t in compliance? Talk to any expert on the IRS to localize. One of our clients would be happy to weigh in on this one: Joe Mastriano IRS Problem specialist (cell) 713.826.4781
Joe is also available for Skype interviews.
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