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August 21, 2007
When the IRS Attax
Is it just me, or is the rage flung at the local school board in these opinions just a knee-jerk reaction from people who either don't take the time to, or can't, comprehend the story? "What? School board in the news? Those b______s."
(Here's the background story, courtesy of Adam Groves, among others): Computer glitch puts schools in tax bind
I also had to laugh at Chip Baker's assertion that he would investigate to see whether it was a human or a machine that messed up. I'll solve that one really quickly, Chip: machines only do what humans tell them to do (so far). I know what he meant, but it sounded funny. I'm always correcting people (something the wife absolutely adores) on their claims that the computer messed up.
But really, is this how it's supposed to work? I understand that under-reporting taxes is a serious offense, under the law. But if it was a technical mistake, and no one was trying to get away with anything, and the IRS didn't even catch it until the mistake was corrected and the debt was paid, then why did they leave $650,000 in penalties intact? What kind of scam is this?
And why in the world would we be angry at the school board, when they paid the tax after the error was corrected? Some IT professional somewhere is at fault, sure; or at least that's what it looks like from here. And yes, there could always be better accountability in that arena (though listen up, citizens, controls like that cost money); but I just don't understand the ire from Rachel Miller and Royce Burrage.
I would have them redirect their thoughts to the United States Treasury Department.
Related: while we're at it, let's shout a little at the North Carolina Department of Revenue, too.
Government | By joe lance | 09:33 PM