Tax Lawyer's Blog

Otherwise rational people will believe almost any horror story involving the IRS.

Here are some examples I’ve encountered:

1.  a heart surgeon who told me he thought the IRS could put him in jail merely for owing money to the government;

2.  a securities lawyer who told me he was afraid that the IRS could seize his lawyer’s trust account for his personal tax debts; and

3.  a college professor who said the IRS was intentionally trying to cause her to lose her tenure.

But why do intelligent people believe this nonsense? 

Because it’s precisely what the IRS wants them to believe.¹

Think about it. The IRS is not concerned about public image the way a business operating in the free market is. First, there is no chance that it will be run out of “business” by it’s competition because it simply has none. Second, it doesn’t have to worry about demand for it’s products or services because the public is compelled by law to “buy” them.

The truth is, the IRS doesn’t want you to like it, it want’s you to fear it.

One doesn’t have to be a student of Machiavelli to understand that fear is a great motivator. And as long as this is true, the IRS will continue to use fear to enforce public compliance with the tax laws.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the IRS historically has publicized its enforcement actions to a much greater extent from April 1st through April 15th.

Here’s Paul Caron:

The chart below provides a graphic illustration of the average frequency of tax enforcement press releases issued throughout the year during 2003 through 2009. The chart reveals a striking increase in the frequency of press releases issued during the two weeks prior to Tax Day 

Footnotes:

¹  Every few years the House Ways and Means Committee conducts a public hearing on IRS abuses. Teary-eyed little old ladies whose homes have been seized or social security checks garnished by the IRS appear before a phalanx of solemn-looking Congressmen. The stories told by these taxpayers are on their face compelling and outrageous. But what is most conspicuous about these hearings are not the allegations of the taxpayers present, but the absence of testimony of IRS officials denying those allegations. There is, I think, a good reason for this: The IRS wants the public to believe the horror stories these ladies tell because if the average taxpayer believes that the IRS is heartless enough to take a wheelchair bound octogenarian’s retirement check, he will surely believe that it won’t have any qualms about seizing his assets.

Related Posts:

• IRS Horror Stories
• Horrifying Tax Tales

Bookmark & Share: