So where is the celebration and line dancing Examiners partying over this important anniversary?
Maybe this was what that IRS line dancing video was all about.
Or were these managers who came from the same IRS Small Business Division that was responsible for administering the OVDP penalty collection, only celebrating their $5.5 Billion contribution to the general revenue that 100 years of rule making made possible!
And Jay Leno acts as MC to get the party going….
Well, let’s see what’s going on. Hey, Snoop is back in the news. Not Snoop Dogg, Snoop Obama. Yeah, Snoop Obama. A big change at the White House today. They closed the gift shop and opened a Verizon store. Yeah.
Well, this has become a huge controversy after it was revealed that the National Security Agency seized millions of Verizon phone records, and of course this has caused a panic among civil libertarians, constitutional scholars and cheating husbands everywhere. Oh my God.
How ironic is that? We wanted a president that listens to all Americans – now we have one. Yeah.
Actually, President Obama clarified the situation today. He said no one is listening to your phone calls. The president said it’s not what the program is all about. You know, like the IRS isn’t about targeting certain political groups. That’s not what it’s about!
I mean what’s going on? The White House has looked into our phone records, checking our computers, monitoring our e-mails. When did the government suddenly become our psycho ex-girlfriend? When did that happen? When did that happen? When did that happen?
You know, I’ll tell you, if Obama wants to put this snooping thing to good use, how about spying on the IRS next time they throw a $4 million party. Why don’t you do that one? Yes, exactly, exactly. Find out about that. Yeah.
As you know by now, the IRS has taken some heat for reportedly spending $4 million on a conference in Anaheim last year where employees took dancing lessons. One of the dances they learned? Tap dancing around the issues. Yes, that was very good, be able to tap dance
Well, the latest one that came out today. You see this one? They’re saying the IRS paid an artist $17,000 to paint portraits of Abraham Lincoln to help inspire the IRS agents. You know, if they want to see a picture of Lincoln for inspiration, take out a $5 bill and save the taxpayers $16,995. Exactly. That’s what they said. They said.
Oh, the hearings have been unbelievable this week. Congressional investigators say the IRS basically threw a $4 million party for themselves. But in fairness, who else is going to throw a party for the IRS? Really? Now, a going away party, I think we’d all chip in. I would chip in! I would chip in! There you are, no problem. I would pay for that.
Here is the rest of the IRS video collection
and one more Leno for you on the IRS..
Blaze @LynneBlaze 46m
Tawdry tax tracks. #IRS buys spy gear http://bit.ly/12CWLTM Y bother with #FATCA Just bug whole world. Oh wait, #NSA already does
https://twitter.com/LynneBlaze/status/344432285598248960
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), already embroiled in a high-profile scandal over its operations, is looking to acquire surveillance equipment that includes cameras concealed in plants, coffee trays and clock radios.
The Washington-based agency seems prepared to take the tawdry task of tax collecting to a higher level with state-of-the art spy equipment.
A government procurement list published on a US government website states that the IRS “intends to award a Purchase Order to an undisclosed Corporation.”
[….]
The government agency said the list of desired surveillance equipment is necessarily “vague due to the use and nature of the items.”
“If you feel that you can provide the following equipment, please respond to this email no later than 4 days after the solicitation date,” the IRS said.
However, the solicitation for the spy gear seems to have been a mere formality, since a supplier was duly selected before the announcement of the tender.
“If no compelling responses are received, award will be made to the original solicited corporation,” the IRS procurement statement said.
Most Americans don’t even know the history that lead up to the original income taxing of their earnings, but even if they did, they would find some way to be okay with it. Finding one’s zen place is what Americans are best at these days in terms of dealing with the never-ending revelations that they are not the great exceptional democracy they’ve been schooled to think they are.
I have posted this podcast before, but it is worth a listen…
The Surprisingly Entertaining History Of The Income Tax
The U.S. has a really conflicted history with the income tax. For most of American history, there was no income tax at all. At one point it was ruled unconstitutional.
Today, income tax is the federal government’s main source of revenue. That raises a question: How did something that was once so strange to us become so central?
The answer includes a few wars, a Supreme Court justice on his deathbed, and Donald Duck.
Pay Your Income Tax: 1943 Disney Propaganda
Not sure where to post this article about the FEIE traps that can be encountered by short-term expats so I’ll put it here:
“Living Abroad? Your ‘Tax Home’ Could Still Be U.S.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/06/11/living-abroad-your-tax-home-could-still-be-u-s/
Joe Expat, this is as good a place as any, although I might also put it over at the Ask your questions about Expat Tax and FBAR thread…. I will put it there also..thanks… I read that Forbes piece this morning, and put up a quick comment, that I see Robert has now called it out.
Those look to be a very hard 100 years, especially as of late.