The IRS Proves Richer Is Better

By Prisoner K

“I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich. And, honey, rich is better.” — Pearl Bailey

Many, many, many people believe the great songstress was right. And it’s funny how many of us agree when we don’t have a dime to our name. So, how would we know?

Well, we do know:

·      If you’re rich, all your banking fees are … wait, you have no banking fees!

·      If you’re rich, you get all kinds of free shit that you can afford anyway.

·      You get to live in places with rooms bigga than our homes.

·      You get to have showers and bathtubs in two different places!

Good times, gooood Times.

Must Be Nice, eh?

Let me give you two examples of the difference between the rich and the poor, from my personal archives.

I was a word processor. The other guy was an executive. We’d both just had babies, our first. Nice guy really. No pretension bullshit about him at all. So, we’re on the elevator ranting about the aggravation of having this bawling invader in our homes. We’re both talking about how hard it is getting a good night’s sleep.

Then he says, “Thank god for the nanny.”

Thank god. For the nanny.

I’m at the cash machine (which is what we called them before they became ATMs) grabbing a few bucks. Me and the guy at the next machine start ta talkin. We’re thrilled about the convenience.

He says, “I mean it’s great. I see a rug I wanna buy I just go to the machine, take out $5,000 and go buy it.”

Well, isn’t that delightful?

Peep What the Revenuers’re Doin’

The rich are well cared for. Not just by their money, but by their privilege. And the poor just keep getting kicked in the groin.

It seems the IRS — that bastion of integrity — is in on the game. Audits and penalties against the poor have grown significantly while audits and penalties toward the wealthy are diminishing.

Is anyone surprised?

Apparently, the cash-starved Internal Revenue Service can’t keep up with the loopholes the filthy rich use to circumvent the system. So they lean towards those who can’t use the loopholes. In 2019, the IRS admitted millionaires were 80% less likely to get audited than the frequency in 2011.

The agency’s losing tons of money as more and more agents retire and budget crunches keep new hires down. The rich get bolder on their taxes because the IRS hasn’t the facilities to truly tackle the problem.

So, what’s the most powerful agency in the country to do?

Put their foot up the ass of the disenfranchised, course.

Being Poor Ain’t Easy … Cuz They Won’t Leave Us Alone

The poor are getting audited at noticeably higher rates than all but the wealthiest taxpayers. We carry the weight of the IRS on our shoulders. Right now — at this very moment — the IRS is depending on individuals who earned income tax credits — one of the biggest anti-poverty initiatives in the country — to help balance their books and confirm their viability.

While IRS audits of the rich plunge, those of the poor hold steady. Part of the reason is being attributed to ease. EITC (earned income tax credit) recipients are easier to go after because the process is mostly automated and less complex. Plus, low-income taxpayers are much more susceptible to something as simple as a letter from the IRS, something the wealthy would just pass on to their lawyers and accountants.

To put in blatant terms, the agency is penalizing low-income workers (most of whose tax issues are admitted mistakes born out of ignorance) while the rich who are better at bucking the system get ignored.

What’s amusing is EITC auditors are conducted by lower-level employees. Many not even superficially trained in tax law. The majority have no experience or background in accounting. The IRS boasts it’s a less cumbersome process and doesn’t require the salaries associated with the experienced employee.

The IRS also dares argue this is to the benefit of the Everyman. The process doesn’t require poor taxpayers to take time out of their busy schedules to deal with the threat of an audit. They get a letter, they mail in the documentation, and they wait for the agency to make a verdict.

The Balls!

The IRS was eventually asked to explain the disproportionate focus on the poor. To date, the IRS has neither commented nor complied.

The agency does count on ignorance and fear when it comes to managing the poor and disenfranchised.

One Cali couple was looking forward to their $7,300 refund. It never came. They got the IRS letter investigating the claim. After the investigation, the IRS agreed the couple was due about $7,000. They contested the remaining $350.

$350.

The couple gave in simply because what they would get just wasn’t worth rolling the dice. Many poor taxpayers surrender.

This in a world where the former president of the United States can admit he dodges his taxes.

And the outrageousness tumbles along…

Prisoner K was a member of the first cohort of the first workshop John facilitated at Rikers Island. He was recently released from his sentence in an upstate facility, and is a working technical writer. He values his and his family’s privacy and like John has read Kafka’s The Trial, thus the pseudonym.