The Horse Act of 1884

[Deacon923]

I spent an hour on hold on the phone regarding income tax returns for a trust. Get through to the woman and explain that the accountant filed one form when he should have filed another.

She explained to me that she was only able to discuss one form as she was not trained on the other and didn't know what it was. So then I got to wait on hold for another 45 minutes so I could talk to somebody trained on the other form.

Clients just LOVE getting those bills for time spent on hold with the IRS, don't they.

 

[RJKarl]

Would it be better to have people trained extremely well on one issue or trained poorly on many?

 

[DeaconCav06]

Clients just LOVE getting those bills for time spent on hold with the IRS, don't they.

I work on other matters while listening to smooth jazz on the speakerphone.

 

[DeaconCav06]

Would it be better to have people trained extremely well on one issue or trained poorly on many?

All I'm asking is that they're trained on income taxation of a trust. I know what both forms are. It's not like I was asking about payroll taxes and generations skipping transfer tax.

 

[Wrangor]

I read it. I just didn't imply one was conditional upon the other.

Exactly what part of this statement was confusing to you? Using the word combined usually means that the two actions need to coincide together.

If this was combined with a reduction in the IRS workforce I think it would make a lot of sense.

I am not sure what is up with you lately PH. It is like you are reaching to point out errors that don't exist with my posts. Chill. I like you, I enjoy your posting, but no one likes getting called out all the time. I blocked RJ partly for me, but partly for him as well. I couldn't help myself calling him out, and it was no fun for me to read what I think is crazy talk, and it is no fun for him to constantly have to be defending himself against me. Better for both of us for me to just not read him, and it saves both of us the annoyance.

 

[Wakelaw2006]

Clients just LOVE getting those bills for time spent on hold with the IRS, don't they.

Yeah, the hour long "telephone conference with IRS" to ask a 5 minute question really sucks. Like Cav, I usually work on other matters while listening to smooth jazz on the speakerphone. For a period of time back in 2007 or 2008, the hold music with Exempt Organizations was the Beautiful Blue Danube on a constant loop. I wanted to shoot myself.

 

[WFFaithful]

Surprisingly, underpaying and mindlessly cutting the numbers of government employees does not lead to an efficiently run government that serves the people, it leads to an inefficiently run government that harms the people.

ETA: just to beat a dead horse, naturally we could greatly reduce the size of the IRS with a more sane taxation system. But slashing and underpaying IRS agents while keeping the same incredibly complex tax system in place (and in fact, adding more and more loopholes and exceptions to exceptions to exceptions every year) is completely illogical. Unless of course the desired goal is to handicap and cripple legitimate government functions and then demagogue about how the government doesn't work well.

Very similar to the education system

 

[Deacon923]

Yeah, the hour long "telephone conference with IRS" to ask a 5 minute question really sucks. Like Cav, I usually work on other matters while listening to smooth jazz on the speakerphone. For a period of time back in 2007 or 2008, the hold music with Exempt Organizations was the Beautiful Blue Danube on a constant loop. I wanted to shoot myself.

When I was still doing that kind of work, a lot of times I would make my assistant listen to the Muzak and transfer to me when they picked up.

 

[RaleighDevil]

As is the case with Walmart and healthcare, the big boys such as H&R Block support regulation.

Who in the administration found the Horse Act?

 

[Deacon923]

The article makes it sound more obscure than it really is. The enrolled agent concept has been around a long time and I think impacts agencies other than IRS, like maybe veterans affairs and SSDI.

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