By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
The Internal Revenue Service made new policy that it will no longer accept checks greater than 99,999,999.99. That’s right, the IRS is refusing a payment method from large corporations or billionaires. With the public debt growing at worrying rates, one would think they would take any money they can get. They certainly are all the more willing to accept checks form lesser beings such as average citizens and small businesses. Your author, however, is still accepting very large checks from anyone wishing to make a donation.
Reportedly, processing equipment at the Federal Reserve is unable to handle checks of the prohibited value, requiring clearing by hand. Also, in memos between the IRS and the Treasury it is claimed that such transactions would be subject to fraud, error, and theft. Realistically it shows a flaw in the federal system and harks of outdated equipment and software.
Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union, said: “When our indebted federal government turns down large checks for fear of fraud or mishandling, it’s time to revise processing procedures and security rather than inconveniencing or deterring taxpayers.”
The change becomes effective next tax year. A workaround proposed would be for the taxpayer to present multiple checks in order to be below the threshold.
While this proposal might sound reasonable–the IRS claimed that it processed only fourteen checks above the $100 million mark–however over time inflation very likely could bring the federal system to a clog. One order of magnitude in devaluation of the currency is all that it would take.
This is an issue that has a slight analog with the digital millennium scare. During that time older systems were hardcoded to only accept two digit years, prompting in some cases a re-architecture of some systems. Though this will be significantly longer in time, the same problem will eventually face the currency system if these problems continue to be swept under the rug.
It perhaps is time for system architects and administrators to assign larger allocations of space to forestall breakages for many years. But with so many news reports of government computer systems being twenty or more years out of date, the will to change might be difficult to summon.
By Darren Smith
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Jack … yes, “Ari” had a regal presence about him. Although a “hard” dog, he was able to relax when I searched for and found a true “Omega” female GSD to be his companion. He loved “protection” work (games to him) and would come on anyway if your sleeve slipped…I have a couple nice bite marks to prove it. It took 9 days of difficult living to get them together but once achieved, she and “Ari” played like puppies for 8 years before he passed on. His change was notable in his expressed cheerfulness in the presence of the forever play never quit companion. That photo was taken a couple years after he met “Dera” the Omega dog and his expression is symbolic of his relaxation. However relaxed he became he’d intervene un-summoned if he felt you were in danger. Yes, he was a “noble” dog if there is such a thing, devotedly loyal and strong, but with a revealed soft side when with “Dera.” I doubt I will find another dog like him or “Dera” in the future, if for no other reason than I doubt I have the strength or energy to train them and accommodate them. They both adored children, and “Ari” even appeared occasionally from the sacristy of my parish during children’s masses (to the consternation of some)….his greatest admirer was the pastor and my best friend.
Beautiful dog! I have old, smart, quirky cattle dogs. Your dog is the face of nobility, is he not?
Thanks for the information, as it did take me a while to find an attorney to take me on and to achieve the “least worst.” The CPAs weren’t doing the trick. Wish I’d understood the way the statute works a bit better. Thanks and best.
Jack .. you over rate me, I assure you. When you get blind sided it is distracting. I was fortunate to know and hire very good attorneys whose practice was tax law. I already had the accounting knowledge and background myself. The first rule of thumb when attacked by the IRS is to hire good attorneys and never respond to any question yourself, let the attorneys do it…the IRS recognizes the attorney as your legal stand in, so long as the attorneys advise them of the fact, and accepts their responses. One reason for this dictum is that every time you personally respond directly and sign it, you just re-start the statute of limitations clock…which of course is the idea behind the multiple questioning documents. If your attorneys respond the clock is not re-started.
And, no the avatar is not a Malinois, but a long haired W. German German Shepherd named “Ari”… now deceased but still beloved.
Aridog….you sound much more sophisticated and capable than I…..my business was one tied directly to the recession…Innocently I’d thought that negotiating in good faith and being forthcoming with assets, personal issues and mitigating circumstances, and not doing things like cashing out my accounts and leaving the country….would be sufficient to get fairly quickly to the “least worst” and return to a semblance of a life. Innocently I trusted professionals who in retrospect made grievous errors. For something that was my responsibility but never a “crime”–I was criminalized (credit, surveillance, time served (Ha). I was walking around, yes–but like a zombie, as I’m not so businesslike, paperwork-ready and resilient a person as you sound. Only people who have been through this and treated badly (while watching others being treated fairly well) can truly grasp the power they have. There are much more interesting things to focus on in this world, and throwing my focus off for over a decade is what I resent most….Thanks for the reply. Is that a Malinois?
PS: I owned about a 20% interest in that former corporate employer of mine…and in effect I got zilch as a “return. Stuff happens.
Jack … your 15 year ordeal sounds a whole like mine, which I won flat out in early FY 2006. My problem was a civil penalty for not acting on the government’s behalf for 4 months in a small 5 figure amount that grew to mid-6 figures as a “penalty” while I was CFO of a small corporation. I was the designated fiduciary. None of the money was funds I kept myself, nor failed to report as income…e.g., because it was not income. A little known feature of “civil penalty” is that once assessed, it remains on the individual to pay, even if the corporation pays the full shortfall with interest, as the one I once worked for did, in short…a double dip plus interest and redundant penalty additions. I paid about $60K in attorney fees to retire a middle 6 figure penalty….last billed as $0.00 due. You bet it cramped me a bit for those 15 odd years. In my new position, while the IRS fandango was still going on, I was a fiduciary officer with DOD/DA for a couple decades and didn’t clear my name until the month after I resigned/retired. I was able to pass clearances, with some effort, and establish to DOD that I was not a tax evader. I may yet frame that $0.00 statement frame from the IRS on a wall in my office here.
Don
Cormac McCarthy’s protagonist in “The Road”:
“He mused that the total amount of punishment probably exceeded the total amount of crime.”
Thanks very much for responding, Don. True, I knew miscreants who lied outright and got off easy; others who did everything asked of them and were cut off at the knees. The thing is–I only have one life; and “they” have millions of clients.