In the news, leaking over to front page, beyond the financial pages where most of this stuff lives, is the fact that another big company is making up its own rules with collaborators in order to line the pockets of the bigwigs.
From Reuters newswire: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Partners of private equity firm Blackstone Group LP (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) may have devised a way to avoid paying tax on $3.7 billion raised largely in the firm's initial public offering last month, a regulatory filing shows.
Under the plan, laid out in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing ahead of Blackstone's IPO last month and first reported by the New York Times on Friday, investors in the newly public company are required to return certain tax benefits to Blackstone's partners.
The company expects these benefits to total $863.7 million over 15 years, the filing said.
The Times said Blackstone partners would get back about $200 million more than the $553 million they paid in tax. The paper did not explain how it arrived at those figures.
Check out "Enron: The smartest guys in the room." We watched it and couldn't believe this company stood for more than 20 years. But then, it had the backing of the Bushes, senior and junior. This country, which means the IRS, awards criminal activity when it's shaped in intricate accounting practices and some higher-ups are getting kick-backs.
Why was the Soprano's series so popular and ran for 8 years (two presidential terms, coincidentally) on HBO? Because the politics and policies of the mafia are so integrated in corporate life - (minus of coarse the physical violence and murder) that it's taken as normalcy. Collusions are insidious and de facto now.
What this means for most of us - if you're the little guy, you're the busy work. The IRS views cases like mine as fodder for their job security. The agents I deal with are not getting the kick-backs from mega deals like the Blackstone Group's or what Enron use to generate. But without those agents, the directors and managers couldn't keep our eyes turned toward the busywork - they mess with the little guys' lives so we don't have time to question, to explore and investigate.
Instead, we put our heads down and drone on in the daily busy bee work environments - in a way as the agents do in their IRS unit hives.
I was thinking maybe on some of these posts I come across too negative. A friend in Ohio said she was worried that I still have so much heartache related to my ex. My heart's been permafrosted, after all the trauma of the past year (physical and mental) so it's safe. And sometimes I wish things where finacially rosy and I could investe like normal people, have good credit again (I had excellent credit until the IRS put the lien on the luxury vacation home....). But everyone wishes otherwise.
What gives me the positive spin on this is multifold:
I'm thankful for what I have - freedom and fodder for somethings worthwhile to write about. I've wanted to be a writer since 10th grade high school. Tried and tried for years, but didn't have the material with the accompanying edge to give me the fire and passion.
So, I am thankful for my experiences with my ex - firstly because of my son, and secondly - for all this. Without him, I wouldn't have been given a front row seat to every common American's worst nightmare in government - entangling with the IRS gulag. And now I'm going to write about - and get it published. I'm not stopping til this is accomplished. I used to train for and run marathons.
Now, instead of my legs going for a prescribed number of miles, as you do in the 5-month paint-by-number type of training plan that is so popular (and works!), I'm going to push my fingers for x-number of pages every day. Not so great a benefit to my cardiovascular system. But for my psyche and long-standing-unfulfilled dream of being a published author, and for others who follow me down this path, it's wonderful - this so called curse/gift of my ex.
So, if I do seem to have heartache in some of these postings, it's literary: it's there so others know they are not alone (CS Lewis). Or to shine a light for some. Or entertain for others. Hopefully, what I will write, at a minimum, will give a glimpse of life to anyone who's wondered what an audit and years-long IRS stalmate are like.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mission impossible
Mark Everson, commissioner of the IRS, states in a message to taxpayers, "To protect the honest taxpayer, we have strengthened enforcement of the tax laws. The vast majority of taxpayers pay honestly and accurately, and they have every right to expect their neighbors and competitors to do the same."
This blog will document my ongoing efforts to extract myself from the financially oppressive control of the IRS during and after being married to a businessman who was less than forthright with his finances. Here's what happened when I tried to be honest and make things right. A little upfront warning: don't try this at home. You'll end up where I am, and believe me, it's tedious at best.
The IRS Mission, according to the 2006 1040 instruction booklet, is, "Provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsiblities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all."
My Mission: In dealing with the IRS since a joint-income tax return field audit was started in July 2002, I hope to help as many friends as possible, in like circumstances, avoid the "top quality service" of such a fair and honest organization as the IRS. It's not worth it. Don't ever try to be a good American in this realm. Protect yourself.
This blog will document my ongoing efforts to extract myself from the financially oppressive control of the IRS during and after being married to a businessman who was less than forthright with his finances. Here's what happened when I tried to be honest and make things right. A little upfront warning: don't try this at home. You'll end up where I am, and believe me, it's tedious at best.
The IRS Mission, according to the 2006 1040 instruction booklet, is, "Provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsiblities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all."
My Mission: In dealing with the IRS since a joint-income tax return field audit was started in July 2002, I hope to help as many friends as possible, in like circumstances, avoid the "top quality service" of such a fair and honest organization as the IRS. It's not worth it. Don't ever try to be a good American in this realm. Protect yourself.
1 comment:
I'm blown away. Put very well. Intriguing...
I think many people are so very afraid of doing anything wrong because they are so 'invested' in their lives. With the cars, the houses and their net worth tied up in 'currency of normalcy' that they do not even want to think of how close they are to it all falling apart. Don't want to think of how they too could be caught in the gears of the tabulating machine of the IRS...
it's good to hear your story...
Post a Comment