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Chairman's Report - March 22, 2019

GET READY—HERE COMES THE IRS AND WHY THIS IS GOOD FOR THE FAIRTAX

There is a growing consensus that there is a need to increase IRS enforcement actions.  Before discussing that let’s examine a few things.
 
IRS FUNDING BETWEEN 2008 AND 2017
 
This information comes from the IRS.

  • IRS’s actual expenditures were $11.5 billion for overall operations in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, down from more than $11.7 billion in FY 2016.
  • In FY 2017, the IRS used 76,832 full-time equivalent positions in conducting its work, a decrease of 14.9 percent from 2012.
  • Women represented 65.5 percent of IRS and Chief Counsel personnel, compared to 48.1 percent of the overall civilian labor force.

IRS ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
 
This information is from the IRS Data Book.
  • The IRS audited almost 1.1 million tax returns, approximately 0.5 percent of all returns filed in Calendar Year 2016.
  • IRS conducted the majority of Fiscal Year 2017 audits, 70.8 percent, via correspondence. The remaining 29.2 percent were conducted in the field.
  • Of the almost 1.1 million examinations of tax returns, almost 34,000 resulted in additional refunds to the taxpayer totaling more than $6.0 billion.
It is interesting that we are to believe that only 34,000 of the 1,100,000 returns, or 3%, of the audited returns resulted in refunds.  It is also interesting that about 70% of the audits were not done in person but handled through the mail.  Only about 330,000 of the 1,100,000 returns were actually audited in the field. 
 
HOW THE IRS IS VIEWED BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

An article in the Washington Examiner quoted from a Pew Research Poll and found that the IRS was not liked by the American people


IRS HUMOR
 
One of the things that most illustrates how people regard a government agency is the jokes that circulate.  These were on the internet.
 
Q: Post Office just recalled their newest stamps.
A: They had pictures of IRS agents on them, and people couldn't figure out which side to spit on.
 
Q: How are an apple and a I.R.S. agent alike?
A: They both look good hanging from a tree.
 
Q: What's the difference between an IRS agent and a carp?
A: One is a bottom-feeding, scum sucker, and the other is a fish.
 
Q. If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the newspaper?
 
Q: What did the terrorist that hijacked a jumbo-jet full of I.R.S. agents do?
A: He threatened to release one every hour if his demands weren't met.
 
Q: What do you call 25 I.R.S. agents buried up to their chins in cement?
A: Not enough cement.
 
Q: What do you throw to a drowning I.R.S. agent?
A: His co-workers. 
 
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PROPOSAL
 
Bernie Becker wrote in Politico’s Morning Tax News about the proposal in President Trump’s latest budget to help strengthen the IRS which provides:
  • $290 million for information technology improvements and a request for $15 billion tax enforcement legislation that the White House says would raise about $47 billion over a decade.
  • Senator Pat Roberts, a member of the Finance Committee, noted that the enforcement proposal "doesn't excite me too much given the past history of what we've had to investigate," a nod to the IRS' tea party controversy.
  • Senator John Neely Kennedy, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the IRS, was noncommittal about the enforcement legislation, and the idea that added enforcement could more than pay for itself with new revenues. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't," said Kennedy, who once headed Louisiana's revenue department.
  • Secretary Mnuchin told reporters that his major focus with the IRS is boosting the IT budget.
  • Even Kevin Brady of Texas said this week that Congress should be willing to listen to new funding requests for the IRS.

CONCLUSION
 
If the IRS is widely disliked and almost always ridiculed, why would funding for this agency be increased?  It is because the reality is starting to percolate up from the Swamp that the growing evasion of the income/payroll tax system is threatening to show just how ineffective their cash cow is at funding the government. 
 
One thing the bureaucrats will not overlook is having insufficient money to first protect their jobs and their generous benefits packages and second to fund their programs.  The Swamp and their minions have been able to blithely ignore all economic reality and borrow to cover up the rapidly increasing gap between what is owed under the income/payroll tax system and what is actually paid—the tax gap.
 
Like the ancient Roman dictators that tried to placate and distract their populace by putting on endless spectacles and providing quantities of food, the Swamp assumes that no one will look at their self-serving pursuit of profit at the expense of the rest of us if we are not prodded awake. 
 
However, the Swamp and their minions know that increasing funding for the IRS is a dangerous move. As long as the audit rates continued to decrease and there were fewer stories of IRS abuse, then there was no cause for the rest of us to question why we need to put up with the inefficient and harmful income/payroll tax system. 
 
Actually, this increased funding of the IRS will likely accelerate the move to the FAIRtax.  As Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.” 
 
Most employees of the IRS are just doing their job and don’t have the evil intentions that many give them.  However, they have an almost impossible job.  They only way to collect more money is to take more and more active enforcement actions and to strictly enforce the law.  This means more and more people are going to feel the force of IRS audits and collection efforts.
 
This will lead to more and more upset.  More and more upset will lead to demands for change. 
Many in the Swamp and their minions are uncomfortable with the increased funding, but they don’t believe they have a choice.  They know that if enough money doesn’t get to D.C. through the income/payroll tax and the cost of borrowing continues to escalate, they will have to cut back some of the benefits many of us have come to rely on for our lives.
 
They know, just like in Rome when the food ran out, the rest of us will realize how we have been conned for too long and our outrage and revenge will not be pleasant for them.
 
Yes, increasing funding and IRS enforcement is going to lead to greater awareness of the people and with that greater awareness will come a demand for a better and more fair tax system—the FAIRtax. 
 
Isn’t it time to take back control from D.C.?
 
President Trump, “Embrace the FAIRtax and real tax reform!  What have you got to lose?”
 
It is time to PASS THE FAIRTAX! 
 
The truth is the truth.  Remember, if we don't continue to tell the truth and demand a change, then this quote from George Orwell's 1984 may foretell our children's future:

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”


WHAT CAN EACH OF US DO
 

Call up the local or D.C. offices of your House Member and two Senators and you can use the following script:
  • I am sure that Representative ____ or Senator ____ is in favor of everyone obeying the income tax laws.
  • After they assure you that their boss is not in favor of anyone breaking the law, ask if they are aware of the Cebula study showing $9 trillion of evaded income/payroll taxes over the next ten years.
  • Since most will say they don’t believe their boss has seen the study, either drop off a copy or get an email address and send a copy to them for their boss.
  • Say you are going to call back in a week and ask what the Representative or Senator is going to do to stop this evasion.
  • In a week, call back and ask specifically what the Representative or Senator is going to do to enforce the law.
  • They probably will say their boss believes that simplifying the income tax will handle the problem.
  • Explain that when people evade income taxes, they are also evading the 15.3% payroll/Medicare tax and state income tax.  So it is unlikely that they are going to pay 30% or 40% when they were paying 0% because they have already decided it is okay to cheat.
  • Say that the only way to reduce evasion is to increase by tens or hundreds of thousands the number of comprehensive IRS audits done each year.
  • Point out that Evaders do not self-identify by putting an “E” on their income tax return.
  • 80% of the people likely to be audited are trying to comply, but they will be forced to endure these IRS audits as well.
  • Ask if the Member is in favor of this?
  • If they say no, then ask again how the Member proposes to stop people breaking the income tax laws.
  • Then explain that the way to handle evasion without unleashing the IRS audits is the FAIRtax.  

If you can see your Member or attend a town hall and ask these questions, you can be even more effective.


FAIRTAX POWER RADIO

#152 Mr. GrassRoots Meets The FAIRtax Guys
 
Jim Bennett is the GrassRoots Coordinator for the Americans For Fair Taxation, the organization that promotes the FAIRtax across the entire country.  Jim explains to The FAIRtax Guys and everyone listening just what volunteers are doing, from sea to shining sea, to bring the FAIRtax to the public and what’s in store for the near future of the GrassRoots efforts.
 
Whether setting up a booth at a local festival, visiting college campuses, contacting their Representative and Senators, or a variety of other activities, listeners can learn how they can join the fight to replace the failing income tax system by replacing it with the FAIRtax.
 
Since this was a Live show, Jim and The Guys responded to several interesting questions from people on Facebook who were tuning in at broadcast time. 
 
A lot of ground was covered so enjoy the podcast and go to facebook.com/fairtax to watch the show.  It’s also available on xcluded.tv which is a subscription site.
 
If you believe the FAIRtax is good for America, let others know by turning them onto FAIRtax Power Radio - the ONLY weekly FAIRtax digital TV show in the country!  Watch every Wednesday at 11:30 AM (ET).  We are streaming to Facebook LIVE (www.facebook.com/fairtax).  If you’re not a fan of Facebook, you can watch the show on xcluded.tv at the same broadcast time - or any time. 
 
FTPR podcasts for each show are posted on Spreaker (http://bit.ly/2oesbk7), iTunes & iHeart Radio every Friday morning.  A free FAIRtax Power Radio app is available for iOS and Android.  Since it’s a podcast, you can download it and play it whenever it’s convenient for you.
 
The FTPR weekly episodes are shared to a number of Facebook pages:

www.xcluded.tv is a subscription based site which costs $30 per year and features a number of other shows along with FTPR with no commercial interruption.
 
Please help us educate as many Americans about the FAIRtax as possible.  Be sure to tell everyone you know about this great new format for FAIRtax Power Radio.  Whether you watch the weekly video or listen to the weekly podcast, this is a great way for more Americans to learn about the best tax reform plan in Congress at this time.
 
Tune into our video broadcast each Wednesday.  Or, if you prefer, you can listen to the podcast of the show later.  You can listen to FTPR on any platform - Mac or PC, iPhone or Android. And it’s 100% free.  Listen on Spreaker.com (http://bit.ly/2oesbk7), iTunes (http://apple.co/1Te8VdF) or iHeart Radio (http://bit.ly/2eqEG7y) on your computer or smartphone.  The easiest way to listen to FTPR on your smartphone is by downloading the free FTPR app.  Just search for “FAIRtax Power Radio” in your app store, download the app and start listening.  
 
Remember, FTPR digital TV every Wednesday at 11:30 AM (ET) followed by the podcast on Friday morning.  Please watch, listen, and tell everyone you know about the FAIRtax Power Radio.  The FAIRtax: Once You Understand It, You’ll Demand It!
 
JUST WHAT IS THE EASIEST INTRO TO THE FAIRTAX? AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION
 
For someone not familiar with the FAIRtax, America’s Big Solution provides a starting point in their study the FAIRtax and is meant for people of any age.  And you can download it to your tablet or smartphone right now.  It’s also available in print form.  See below.
 
Do you know someone who would like an introduction to the FAIRtax and would prefer to read about it in a booklet rather than search online for Tweets, Posts and Shares?  If so, America’s Big Solution is their best choice.
 
America’s Big Solution is an introduction to the FAIRtax written by Terry Tibbetts, author of A Spartan Game: The Life and Loss of Don Holleder, with help from Ron Maiellaro, President of the Florida FAIRtax Educational Association.  
 
You can buy an electronic version of ABS as follows:  AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION is available for only $2.99 for the Amazon Kindle (http://amzn.to/1WIRHry), the Barnes & Noble Nook (http://bit.ly/1XeG8bH) and Apple iOS (http://apple.co/1tnqK0P).  
 
You can purchase a print copy at the same Amazon link above for $9.25.  Regardless of whether you choose the electronic format or the print format, you’ll find AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION will give someone the boost they need to begin their study of the FAIRtax and the suggested resources to learn more. Buy AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION now!
 
LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION
 
These links will help you promote and support the FAIRtax, make yourself familiar with the links below. We always do our best to keep our AFFT community up to date, and you can stay ahead of the curve using these convenient sites.

 
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