Subject: The Breakdown of the IRS Comment: The Breakdown of the IRS On August 4, 1993, the General Accounting Office released its findings in the first audit of the IRS ever. That the IRS was audited just once in its 80-year history is amazing, and the findings of the audit are an indication of the impending breakdown of our income tax system. The GAO found widespread evidence of financial malfeasance and nonfeasance and, perhaps, outright fraud. Just for starters, the GAO could not even ascertain the correctness of the agency's financial statements because "critical supporting information for billions of dollars was either not available or was unreliable. While the government is quick to hold private enterprise liable for its errors, oversights, and occasional fraudulent conduct, it seems unwilling to hold its agencies to the same standards. As the GAO pointed out, "IRS's lack of fundamental recordkeeping is inconsistent with recordkeeping requirements placed on taxpayers." Unfortunately, the IRS is unwilling or unable to meet the same high standards of financial accountability it requires the average citizen to meet. A tax system with 17,000 pages of law and regulation few citizens understand is not suitable for a free society. Similarly, a federal agency that cannot adequately maintain its own accounting ledgers is poorly suited to police those of individual and business taxpayers. FairTax all the way! |