Donna Genie explains how the IRS's 87,000 new agents could increase audit risk, especially since many will be inexperienced. She recommends three defenses: hire a CPA, use a suite of tax strategies, and file an extension by October 15 while paying taxes by April 15.
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So are you looking for a job? Did you hear who's hiring? The IRS. They want to hire 87,000 agents. Let's put this in perspective. Currently The IRS employs 79,000 agents and of course no one's retiring right now. Right. So we're going to more than double the size of the IRS agent pool. I have some questions first. Where are we finding these people? The last I heard there's not many new people looking for jobs. We're just replacing the the same jobs we've had in the past and barely making it there. So I'm not sure where these people will come from. But let's theoretically say we find these people also. By the way, the salary they're offering is not too great compared to what the headaches are that you have to deal with in working with a government bureaucracy. So again, let's say they find these people, they hire 87,000 agents, and now they're going to increase their efforts to audit your tax returns. Okay, let's dive in. We now have 87,000 brand new, wet behind the ears IRS agents looking at your tax returns. Now how many of those people do you think have a clue and any experience at all in working with tax returns other than the 1040EZ? My bet is little or none. These are going to be people who have no idea how the tax code works, no idea how the IRS works, except what little training they probably receive at the beginning of their job. Now if those people decide that they are going to now audit your return, what will you need to do to combat this? You have a couple of choices. First off, if they send a notice, you can just write a check and be done. And don't laugh. Many people do that. Or you can dispute it. Now we know that dealing with the IRS and disputes is not a fun job. It'll be a sideline part time job or maybe even a full time job for most people to deal with the IRS and try to go through this audit. Many people will still give up and write the check because it's hard. Or you can do what you should do from the start and that is work with a CPA who knows how the IRS works. I personally have dealt with the IRS for the past 30 years and it's not for the weak at heart. It is a tiring job and very frustrating to deal with. And yes, do you want to give up some days? Yes. But we as US Citizens have to make sure that we don't just bow to the government and pay money just to get rid of people because it's a hassle. That's not what the IRS job is supposed to be. It appears what it's turning into lately, but you owe it to yourself to make sure that you do the right things for your tax return. When you do the right thing on your tax return, you need to be able to substantiate it and answer the questions, and that will be a difficult task. Again, I'd suggest that working with a cpa, not to toot my own horn, but that would be the easiest route for you. So let's say now that you are working with a cpa, what could you have done to even avoid having to deal with the irs? Or what could lower your chances of having to deal with these 87,000 new agents? Well, again, the first strategy is to employ some strategies of your own. We utilize a checklist of 87 tax strategies, not to be confused with 87,000 agents on each and every client that we work with. We want to make sure that our clients are paying as little tax as possible legally and have all of the substantiation to prove that they should be able to take that deduction or make that tax strategy move. So do you want to employ 87 tax strategies to combat the IRS or deal with 87,000 agents? I think that choice is pretty clear. Next up, another strategy that you can employ is don't file your taxes at April 15th. Extensions are free now. That doesn't mean that you can wait to pay your bill. You should know how much you owe and that must be paid by April 15th. But you don't have to file if you extend your return until October 15th. In the past, most people have said, hey, I want to get that out of the way. What can I do to make sure that we just put this thing to bed? And that was a smart idea in the past for many, but it's becoming less and less of a viable option for you. Tax laws aren't even finished by April 15. There are no clarifications on a lot of things. So you need to wait and make sure you don't have to change your return or file a return that needs to be changed because that will increase your chances of audit. So we recommend now filing at October 15th or near around to make sure that you lower the chances of being in that audit pool. And last, why are these people working for the irs? Well, it probably looks like it's a good job for them because they're going to make some money and most likely just have the good benefits. However, it's going to be a rotating door. I've been involved in audits where we've switched out agents four and five times before. We were able to resolve an audit over the course of six months to a year. This is not going to be something that's good for the American public. No matter how much you hear that the IRS is going to raise money. How much do you think those salaries and benefits for 87,000 agents cost? I've got news for you. It's way more than the IRS is going to collect on doing audits on the general American population. So if you have your choice, make the moves to not get involved in the 87,000 agents in the IRS and do tax strategies to protect yourself. Have a good CPA on your side to make sure that if you do have to deal with them, that it's not as difficult of a process and it's not a losing battle. To start with, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Please make sure to check out our blog and our website linked below, subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell to be notified when we post. Email me at donna at calculatedmoves. Com.
