Government Shuts down Tax Return
Procrastinators Support Group– CoverUps.com
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The number 1040 haunts thousands of taxpayers every January… and February … March… April … and May. Some even beyond that. Tax season is the poster child of Reasons to Procrastinate. Only the uber-organized and OCD Americans do their taxes in January; the rest of us aren’t so on top of things – and the government wants to keep it that way. |
By Fredricka Kozlowski
CoverUps Investigative Reporter
For the last two years, 8 of the 50 states have offered support groups for people who just can’t make themselves get their taxes done on time. Their collective weakness breaks banks and hearts all across the country.
In 2005, TPA (Tax Payers Anonymous) was the fastest growing support group, aimed at treating procrastinators in all tax brackets. Normally one would think the IRS would encourage such earnest efforts at reform by tardy taxpayers, but as the 2007 tax season rolls around, many have found that to be untrue.
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Greg Lewis, 35, is what the TPA calls a Grade Red taxpayer. Always late and always disorganized, the hapless Lewis had been audited nine of the last ten years and had his wages and his testicles garnished. At the end of his rope, he joined TPA in January. For a brief time his outlook seemed to brighten. But his prospects have dimmed now that the IRS shut down the TPA in early February. |
“We got our first letter last year from the IRS late last year,” TPA President Jean Bollard told CoverUps. “I thought they were going to congratulate us. Instead, it was a very unfriendly letter, telling us to basically cease and desist. Apparently, ever since we’ve first opened our doors, they’ve seen a 20 % drop in late files, and an overall 40 % decline in the number of audits. They seem not to be able to function without stragglers and all the revenue from fines and penalties that they generate. It’s really thrown the IRS for a loop. I think ever since more of us got our act together they’ve been losing a lot of their bureaucratic perks. It just makes me sick.”
After that first letter, and several others, the government took to hounding the group, finally forcing the halt of meetings with an ATF raid.
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This TPA member, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been with TPA for two years. Each year she improved her file date by a week. This year she hopes to file in March. But with the sudden closing of her local TPA office, she has turned desperate, and may not file at all. |
Bollard isn’t backing down. She’s gathered up a pack of lawyers to defend her quest to help America become late fee-free.
“This is the land of opportunity,” Bollard said. “Citizens have a right to become law-abiding taxpayers. Denying them that is not what this country was founded on. The IRS should be ashamed for trying to keep us down, and I won’t rest until America knows the truth about what the IRS is really up to. Making it impossible for people to file their tax returns on time.”
