James Yu, CPA
Board Member, Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce
As a long-serving Certified Public Accountant in Las Vegas, I’ve worked with businesses that are incredibly diversified. They have different levels of income, different types of expenses, some have dozens of employees, some just a handful, some have been in business for generations, some are just starting out.
But they all have a few things in common when it comes to tax preparation and the Internal Revenue Service. One, they depend on their tax returns to boost their income and provide essential family expenses. Two, they are diligent about getting every deduction and benefit available to them under the law. And three, they are very wary about an expansion of the IRS, particularly into the field of tax return filing.
Such a plan, much to the dismay of taxpayers nationwide, is currently being considered in our nation’s capital. It’s a truly terrible idea, as articulated in several articles in national publications.
The argument is pretty straightforward: the IRS should stick to tax collection and enforcement. It makes little sense to give the very agency that has the power to audit tax returns the power to prepare and file tax returns. Individual taxpayers and small businesses trust their CPA to maximize the tax benefits to which they are rightfully, and legally, entitled.
It’s also a question of priorities. The amount of unpaid taxes Americans owe the IRS is upwards of a shocking one trillion dollars. Shouldn’t the agency be more focused on recouping that money then wading into the tax preparation business?
Lots of ideas come out of Washington, D.C. Expansion of the Internal Revenue Service to allow them to prepare and file tax returns is a genuinely terrible one.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
