Comments on: IRS agent accused of stealing refunds, mis-using IRS computer network to pilfer funds

By: ThomDowting

ThomDowting — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What would you do if you had a million dollars?

By: Atrum

Atrum — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

As long as you don’t misplace a decimal point. Then you’re fucked. Well, unless someone starts a fire. Fire fixes everything.

By: lolbrandon

lolbrandon — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sure, the IRS is (literally) stealing our money, but I still like ‘em a lot more than the TSA.

By: Xof

Xof — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What’s funny (in a way) is that, in decades of tangling with the IRS, I’ve found them to be professional, competent, and clean. If I had to deal with a problem with a bank or a problem with the IRS, I’d pick the IRS any time.

By: benenglish

benenglish — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It wasn’t an agent. It was a Revenue Officer.

Revenue Officers (ROs) and Revenue Agents (RAs) are completely different beasts.

ROs derive their authority from the tax lien; IOW, they collect money. RAs, OTOH, do audits, typically off-site at larger businesses. (I’d like to keep this reasonably brief, so I won’t even get into Tax Compliance Officers (TCOs), and Special Agents (SAs).)

Historically, ROs view RAs as pencil-pushing geeks who couldn’t actually bring in any money if it fell in their lap. RAs view ROs as under-educated cretins wholly unfamiliar with GAP accounting and, thus, unworthy of acknowledgement.

In recent years, these two professions have begun to better respect each other as they realize they possess complimentary skills. They get along much better nowadays compared to, say, a quarter-century ago.

However, it still sets their teeth on edge when the press mixes up officers and agents.

More info about the culture inside upon request. Otherwise, I suppose the less most people hear about the IRS the better they like it.

By: Phikus

Phikus — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just another symptom of the overall disease of kleptocracy.

By: benenglish

benenglish — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Well, yes and no. Any employee can be referred to as an agent of their organization. That’s true. But nobody does that. Have you ever heard an employee of the local power company called a “power company agent”? Have you ever heard the clerk at the local flower shop referred to as the “flower agent”? I know I haven’t. In common parlance, they are called employees. Using “agent” as a direct substitute for “employee” is rare and unusual enough to be considered downright awkward, both in use and to the ear.

Further, in nearly every case where “agent” is used in an IRS context, the phrasing is “IRS agent”. “IRS employee” and “agent of the IRS” are rare as hen’s teeth.

It seems clear to me (and it’s borne out by many years of experience) that the reason people use “IRS agent” is that nearly everybody thinks they are using at least an approximation of a job title.

In practical terms, then, when I hear “IRS agent”, I’m pretty confident that the speaker simply doesn’t know what they are talking about and doesn’t understand the difference between an RA and an RO.

By: dculberson

dculberson — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That may well be the case, but a Revenue Officer is still an agent of the IRS. An agent, after all, being any representative of another, or someone that is authorized to act on behalf of another. Whether their title is “Agent,” “Officer,” or “Grand PooBah,” they can still be referred to as an agent of the office in question.

By: benher

benher — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ah, the competency of the IRS.

I haven’t lived in the US in a decade, but I still file. (I believe it’s the law, even if you don’t owe any taxes) Yet every year I still get a letter with some ‘error’ that they can’t seem to handle. (How can your spouse not possibly have an SSN?!) To which I have to reply by scrawling in red sharpie “because she is not a US citizen and we do not live in your country.”

By: LightningRose

LightningRose — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What an idiot. Everyone knows the safe and big money is in taking all the rounded off pennies and transferring them to your account.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Behnar — before you decry the IRS — you should actually understand what the law is regarding your spouse. If she is a non-US Citizen being listed on a US return — she must have a TIN, or Taxpayer Identification Number. US Citizens have a SSN. You should apply for an ITIN, or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, for your spouse. You can use a W7 and mail it with your return.

Magically, after you do this, I suspect the “errors” the IRS computer can’t resolve on its own will suddenly cease to happen.