On March 9th Senator Crapo penned an Op-Ad in “The Voice” titled “American ideals remain ours to maintain.” Senator Crapo expressed that the IRS is not processing tax returns fast enough. That might be true, but I always get mine back in a month or two. He says that the focus should be on more processing capability, not on enforcement. What he does not tell the reader, is that during the prior Presidential Administration, when his political party controlled everything, there was massive defunding to all areas of government … especially the IRS, and specifically in areas of recovery.
For the average person, this didn’t change things very much. The folks drawing a paycheck, as usual, still had their federal income tax deduction from their check. That means the IRS has it already and it’s like begging and pleading with them to get back any overpayment. It’s not like that for folks that don’t punch a time clock, own a business or have salaried jobs. These folks, however, get to be creative in what they tell the IRS. A businessperson can claim that an entire room in their house is an office. You can turn a personal leisure trip into a business trip, for example, just by having one meeting at the location with anyone connected with your business. It’s 100% legal for anyone to do that. Folks like Jeff Bezos who have paid ZERO in federal income taxes for years are taking advantage of those tax breaks.
The tax law is complex, and some individuals try to “gain” the system by not reporting all of their income. The IRS cannot find and go after that unreported income if they don’t have the manpower to do that … and that is what is being corrected in the IRS currently … that Senator Crapo helped to create in former Administrations.
I’m finding a concerning pattern with Senator Crapo. He created unfortunate circumstances in prior Administrations with legislation that helped wealthy individuals and hurt everyday wage earners, and then he complains about the situations he helped to create along with bogus legislation that will go nowhere that is his “now fix” for the situation he created in the first place.
I don’t expect Senators to be perfect doggone it, but please stop treating us like ignorant buffoons Senator.
Ken Swearingen
Rupert, Idaho