Why all the tax threats? I am all for keeping American jobs right here. However, threatening to tax the crap out of a company that leaves and then tries to send products back is not the answer. Lets simply reduce the tax burden on the company and the employees. Lets reduce the regulation and red tape. Lets incentivize the company to stay and invest locally instead of penalize for leaving. If the government would stay out of the way, businesses would want to invest. I know I would. But right now the amount of upfront costs to the government bureaucracy is prohibitive to get in the market. Which leads me to the IRS.
I spent 45 minutes on the phone today trying to reach someone to change my business address. The website said that I could do one of 4 options. Download and mail a form, send my own letter with some specific information, update when I file my next tax return, or call and have a representative take care of it over the phone.
The download option seemed simple enough. Download, fill out, send. I am out of town for a few weeks and it would be simple enough, but I cannot get to it. Same goes for sending my own letter. I could wait till tax season, but I get regular mail from the IRS so this is too long to not get the information. Calling works perfect. Except, there is no phone number listed. So I search and find a dozen IRS numbers. I finally narrow it down to a business customer service number. I call. Automated message: Press or say 1 for English. Don't get me started. How about assuming English and only make me tell you otherwise? Next I get a list of business related services, but none of what I need. I don't have questions about my EIN, I don't have questions about employer taxes, I don't need to order IRS forms or publications, I don't need to know about Obama care, I don't need to know about how to file form 0394909023445902-B. I need to change my business address. There is no option to even get to a person. Dial 0 and it says "sorry you are having trouble, please call again later," and it hangs up on me.
Repeat process. Okay, I need and EIN. I go through three more prompts to hear, "EINs are issued through our online portal. Go to www........... for more information. Good bye," and Click. I am hung up on again. Now I try to call for tax filing information. "We are sorry, but we are experiencing very high call volume for the issue you are calling about. Please try your call again tomorrow." Click. Are you kidding me? Finally, I want business publications. I don't really, but that is what I tell the machine. I get hold music. For once this is an improvement. After a brief hold (5min.) I get to a woman who is actually pleasant. However, she can only get me the form for change of address. It will take 10 business days to get the form, then I will have to fill it out and send it back. Again, I can do this, I just don't want to use this method. She tells me to call the customer service number so I can talk to someone. She tells me that she cannot do it because she can only take orders for publications, and I need to talk to some one in the correct department.
As I am writing down the number she is giving me, I realize that it is the number I called every time I have been hung up on. It is the number I used to talk to her. So at this point I tell her I will download the form and send it back in a couple weeks. However, I have one question about filling it out. There is a section that I don't think applies, so how do I handle it? Leave it blank? She informs me that she cannot advise me on how to fill out any form and that I will have to figure it out for myself. Well, isn't that grand.
Tell me why it is that we still fund this organization? Implement a national sales tax and eliminate all other income taxes and we can save 95% of what we are spending on the IRS. In fact, we can eliminate the IRS. Imagine the saved revenue to the people and increase the revenue to the government for important things like Military and the VA.
ARRRGH. It is time to get rid of income taxes and the IRS! Let people keep their funds and only be taxed if they buy something. More on that next time.
God Bless,
Geoff
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