Joe Kristan has two stories today which show Bozo-sized stupidity. That’s definitely a prerequisite to being proclaimed the Tax Offender of the Year.
First, from Tampa, Florida comes the case of Randy Nowak. Mr. Nowak was going through an IRS audit and it wasn’t going well. He was worried that the IRS would find his foreign financial account (which had somewhere around $3 to $4 million in it). So, did he disclose the account, and throw himself on the mercy of the IRS? Did he hire a tax attorney to help him clear up this mess? Did he hire an Enrolled Agent or a CPA to represent him in the audit, so that a negotiated settlement could be made with the IRS? Or did he hire a hit man to kill the IRS agent?
No one could be that dumb, right? Even if the IRS agent were to die of natural causes certainly someone would replace him. But to expect a Bozo to be thinking, well, that’s an oxymoron. Mr. Nowak will likely soon be residing at ClubFed after his conviction for attempted murder. As Joe Kristan said, “I suspect the penalties for trying to murder a federal agent will dwarf anything he would have gotten for having unreported bank accounts.”
The second case involves a Tax Court decision rendered today. And it is perhaps the shortest opinion I’ve ever seen from that court. A woman claims casualty losses of $10,012,633, $9,997,469, and $9,994,315 in three respective years. The IRS gets suspicious, and audits her return and denies the deduction. From the opinion:
Petitioner contends that her savings bonds, stamp collection, and other personal valuables were stolen and that her home was damaged by a flood. There is no credible evidence, however, supporting petitioner’s contentions and claimed deductions. In fact, petitioner acknowledged that “My putting $10 million dollars each year from 2003-2205 [sic] was just an estimated amount”. Accordingly, we sustain respondent’s determinations.
You are allowed to use estimates, but if you estimate $10 million you’d better have some back-up evidence (appraisals would be a good start). And there are reasons why banks offer safety deposit boxes.
My brother asked me last year if I thought I’d ever run out of stories like these. I told him that I wasn’t worried at all.