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Actually, the taxing bodies do have the authority to do this. I've had several cases where the client has sent the payments to the wrong agency. The last time it happened, the IRS deposited the IL check and sent a bill for the remainder and Illinois sent a refund of the overpaid amount. IRS can even adjust a check down in amount if it is made out for too much. I found the authority in the regs several years ago.

When a client comes in one year obviously pregnant, and the next year with a six-month-old in a car seat carrier, I feel justified in not asking for the birth certificate. DOB and ssn, yes.

When President Clinton reformed welfare "as we know it," it was largely replaced by the EITC. The difference was that you had to have earned income to get it (as in EARNED Income Tax Credit). Welfare rolls dropped precipitously as former recipients went to work. Welfare office employees had to retool from determining eligibility for free money to getting people into jobs and training programs. For a while it worked out just as planned. Eventually electronic filing grew and DIY software came on the scene. Instead of filling out forms and pages of worksheets, people learned how to plug numbers into a computer. If they didn't like the result, they'd play with the numbers. Crooks came out of the woodwork, and we know where that's gotten us. The EITC is a godsend for many working families and each year lifts millions of children above poverty level. And I think it's a lot better than welfare when people got money for doing nothing. That said, it doesn't belong in the tax system. The welfare workers are trained in determining eligibility for various benefits and helping people gather the documentation needed for proof. Tax professionals have learned what questions to ask as part of due diligence but are not required to examine things like birth certificates and school records. We should do people's tax returns which they can then take to their local welfare office to apply for EITC. Let the real experts in that sort of thing do that job. Congress will never agree because they have worked so hard to separate "welfare" from the EITC. It plays better with voters that way.

less aggravation............That would be almost any other job, Catherine.

You just made me realize that I am a druggie.

Margaret, my husband turned 65 this month, so I shared the picture below with him. I am 10 years younger and a kid working retail gave me a senior discount today without asking.

Mystic Pizza Owner Gets Prison Sentence for Tax Evasion The owner of Mystic Pizza, the Connecticut pizzeria made famous by the 1988 Julia Roberts movie of the same name, has been sentenced to over a year in prison on charges of tax evasion and structuring cash transactions. John Zelepos, 49, of North Stonington, Conn., was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for tax evasion and structuring cash transactions. Zelepos also was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, forfeit more than $500,000, and pay back taxes with interest and penalties. Zelepos is the sole owner of Mystic Pizza, LLC, a Schedule C retail restaurant business in Mystic, Conn. From 2006 to 2010, he allegedly diverted approximately $567,435 in cash from Mystic Pizza’s gross receipts, approximately $330,005 of which was deposited into his personal bank account, his and his wife’s personal checking account, his wife’s personal checking account and passbook savings accounts in the name of each of his three minor children, according to prosecutors. During the same time period, Zelepos caused Mystic Pizza to pay a total of $162,168 to two “no-show” employees who performed no work for the restaurant. He then deducted the wages as expenses on his tax return’s Schedule C for Mystic Pizza. Prosecutors claimed Zelepos failed to disclose to his tax return preparer receipt of the diverted cash and the two no-show employees. Based on this conduct, the federal tax loss for 2006 to 2010 was $234,407. Zelepos has paid restitution in that amount, but still is required to pay interest and substantial penalties. Zelepos also intentionally structured financial transactions to avoid having the bank file Currency Transaction Reports, according to prosecutors. Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a CTR for currency transactions that exceed $10,000. To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000. Structuring involves the repeated depositing of amounts of cash less than the $10,000 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements. Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law. Structured funds are subject to forfeiture to the United States. Between January 2010 and January 2011, Zelepos engaged in 61 currency transactions in amounts less than $10,000, depositing a total of $522,658 into the business account, his personal account, his and wife’s personal bank account, and his three children’s bank accounts in amounts ranging from $3,000 to $9,998. The cash deposits were made on sequential days, or multiple cash deposits were made on the same day. Prosecutors said Zelepos knew the bank was required to issue a report for a currency transaction in excess of $10,000 and by conducting his financial transactions in amounts less than $10,000 he intended to evade the transaction reporting requirements. Zelepos was ordered to forfeit $522,658 as a result of his illegal structuring. On January 2012, pursuant to a court-authorized federal seizure warrant, the IRS seized $63,084.49 from a payroll account Mystic Pizza held at Chelsea Groton Bank. Those funds are being applied to the forfeiture, reducing the remaining forfeiture amount to $459,573.51. On March 31 of this year, Zelepos waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of structuring financial transactions. He was ordered to report to prison.

Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.

Now I'm Hungry............