IRS problems aren't as complicated as they look once you see the structure. I'm attorney Darrin Mish. I've represented taxpayers before the IRS for three decades — in Florida, Colorado, Texas, and internationally. Here's the plain-English breakdown.
While the IRS is out to nab people and corporations who fail to pay taxes, there seems to be a little personal house cleaning that would be in order.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) performed an audit that revealed the IRS failed to stop felons from preparing tax returns. Compliance checks failed to revoke felon preparer IDs when it was found they violated the law.
The audit found that in 2014 and 2015, there were approximately 19,500 preparers who should not have been able to file taxes on behalf of others.
Numerous preparers reported felony convictions that included the preparation of false tax returns, mortgage fraud and drug possession. Six prisoners actually obtained a preparer tax ID number and prepared tax refunds totaling $2.5 million dollars. Needless to say there’s work to do at the IRS. Hopefully, they can plug the gap as such behavior is unacceptable in the eyes of consumers.
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