CPA’s to Become Agents of the IRS?

TIGTA is one of my favorite acronyms coming out of the federal government.  It’s hard consonants are appropriate.  Even if you don’t know what it means, most folks would instinctively be leary of dealing with something called TIGTA.

TIGTA is the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.  It is a division of the IRS and they are the “Eichmann” division of the IRS.  Their mandate is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS.  If you have ever been through an IRS audit, you know they are no fun.  But chances are you were not subjected to a TIGTA audit, which the IRS  equivalent of a colonoscopy, your return is audited line by line, where full documentation of every number item is required.   

The man in charge of TIGTA is J. Russell George.   In a statement made recently, Mr. George chilled me to the bone.  The topic affects tax preparers directly, but it is a statement that not just tax preparers should be afraid of, but all taxpayers.  Mr. George said the following:

“Paid tax preparers prepared more than half of individual tax returns in 2009.  The IRS must step up its efforts to engage this community in its effort to close the tax gap.”

OMG.  They want to engage ME in it’s effort to close the tax gap.   I see three huge problems. 

1. People taking money under the table don’t come to somebody like me and if they do they don’t tell me about it.
2. This puts me in a HUGE conflict of interest.  If my clients think I am playing cop, they won’t want to do business with me. I am the taxpayer’s advocate, not the government’s.  Next it will be the Justice Department wanting more cooperation from criminal defense lawyers at curtailing crime. 
3. Me and my fellow CPAs, for the most part, do not want to be a tool of Big Brother.  

Don’t get me wrong, I hate the fact that there is a tax gap.  I do not aid and abet my clients in cheating the government.  I think tax cheats out to go to jail and serve significant time.  I hate that certain segments of the population feel like they shouldn’t have to pay taxes, but the other guy should.   Polls, anonymous ones of course,  show that the same people that would never steal a grapefruit from a fruit stand actually boast about how they cheat on their taxes.  But the minute they force me to get involved in correcting that, I am out of here.  It will be like working for the IRS, but without the job stability and the government pension. 

Of course, this may be what the IRS really wants “Hey taxpayer, let US, the friendly folks at the IRS, prepare your return.  We will do a really good job on you, oops,  I mean we will do a really good job.”