Where Were They For Geithner And Rangel?
Mar 15, 2010 Political
Two IRS agents showed up at a car wash in Sacramento to collect back taxes. The agents incurred travel expenses and were paid their salaries in order to collect a whopping 4 cents.
It was every businessperson’s nightmare.
Arriving at Harv’s Metro Car Wash in midtown Wednesday afternoon were two dark-suited IRS agents demanding payment of delinquent taxes. “They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending,” says Harv’s owner, Aaron Zeff.
The really odd part of this: The letter that was hand-delivered to Zeff’s on-site manager showed the amount of money owed to the feds was … 4 cents.
Inexplicably, penalties and taxes accruing on the debt – stemming from the 2006 tax year – were listed as $202.31, leaving Harv’s with an obligation of $202.35. The Sacramento Bee
OK, so with penalties the balance was a little over 200 dollars which begs the question, how much interest and penalties are levied to turn 4 cents into 200 dollars in just four years?
The troubling thing here is that the IRS would waste time and money to collect 4 cents (plus the penalties and interest) when it ignored Tim Geithner and Charlie Rangel along with who knows how many others who failed to pay their taxes. And to top it off, the IRS waived any penalties and interest for Geithner.
This is nothing more than an abuse of power and whoever authorized this should be fired. Let’s face it, the 4 cents that was originally owed would not make a dent in the budget deficit and the IRS does not require anyone to pay taxes owed if the amount due is less than one dollar (and it will not refund any amount overpaid if it is under a dollar unless a refund is requested).
This also means that the owner should not have had interest and penalties assessed.
From the IRS:
How To PayIf you have an amount due on your tax return, you can pay by check, money order, credit or debit card. If you filed electronically, you also may be able to make your payment electronically.
You do not have to pay if the amount you owe is less than $1. [This emphasis mine]
I guess this is a sign of the times to come. The government is so anxious to spend our money that it will go to any length to squeeze out every last cent from us.
I don’t know how this happened but it is wrong no matter how one views it.
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Tags: 4 cents, abuse of power, irs, refund, taxes due