Political Commentary

The Latest Licensing Outrage

11 Comments

…from the IRS. Just typical rent seeking by big business, which doesn’t generally have any interest in free markets when it can bribe the government to shut down the competition.

This is the reason why the Founders wanted limited government.

11 thoughts on “The Latest Licensing Outrage”

  1. It’s garbage like this that sours many about government. Who at the IRS is proposing this? Give us a name and a face. An elected representative would get an earful. Let everyone know who it is. I bet the neighbors would say, “Jack/Jill, pick up your own kids tonight and don’t bother with neighbor night anymore either.”

  2. I still prepare my own taxes with the metaphorical number 2 pencil. Which admittedly today is Adobe Reader and the IRS’s own fill-in form pdf files. And no, I’m not licensed, insured, or etc.

  3. Inexplicably, the proposed regulations exempt certain favored industry insiders.

    “Inexplicably?” That word doesn’t mean what he thinks it means.

  4. The real meat is further down:

    [M]andatory licensure gives the IRS substantially more control over tax return preparers. In fact, it makes preparers actually dependent on the IRS for their livelihood. That’s a troubling new power dynamic that could give the IRS increased leverage in disputes such as disagreements with preparers over interpretations of the tax code. And it seems likely to endanger the role that a tax return preparer has as an advocate of his or her client — will preparers really be able to fully represent their clients’ best interests in a dispute with the IRS when concerned about the possibility of having their license revoked?

    It’s not just rent-seeking. It’s a deadly combination of rent-seeking crony capitalists plus an IRS seeking to hobble the ability of reg’lar Joe Taxpayers to minimize their contributions to the monster. Remember, government is very very hungry for money right now. Your money. Hand it over quietly and there won’t be any trouble.

  6. The tax preparation industry’s very existence says there’s something woefully wrong with our tax code. As a friend once observed, the State oppresses with both high tax rates and high tax code complexity.

  7. I’ve heard of an idea for a tax law change that I’m not sure would work but could be interesting: Get rid of the automatic withholding from pay checks. The numbers are still calculated but you get the money. For the time being. On April 15 you write out a check and sent it in with your tax forms. The idea being you see how much of a tax bit you’re taking.

  8. How many more straws…

    While hopeful for Nov., this game with our lives is going to take time to play out; especially considering so many have bought into it and the fervor of the true believers. It could still get a lot worse than we currently imagine (although we can continue to hope and work for it getting better.)

    I remember reading that with baby boomers retiring; this period was suppose to be one of very low unemployment. I just can’t lose the feeling that the destruction going on isn’t just because of an ideology that doesn’t work. I’m thinking it’s working exactly as intended. The people in charge literally hate America. I found it a strange concept thirty years ago when I encountered it working in NYC but now they are everywhere.

  9. Speaking of outrages, it looks like Obama is exempting certain employers in time for the elections. There’s this juicy bit near the end:

    But the biggest beneficiary of the Obama administration’s exemption is the United Federation of Teachers, New York’s teachers union, reports the New York Post. The union, which campaigned for Obama in 2008, said it would have trouble insuring its 351,000 members next year if it had to set its benefit cap at $750,000 or more.

    “The fact that the largest waiver now belongs to New York teachers union bosses might be funny if the rest of America wasn’t stuck complying with the bill’s onerous mandates,” Patrick Semmens, spokesman for the anti-union National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, told the paper.

    Collectively, the waivers appear to affect a million workers who’d otherwise lose their insurance in time for the November election.

  11. ken anthony Says:
    It could still get a lot worse than we currently imagine

    Unfortunately, I have a pretty good imagination. If things get worse than *I* imagine, we will be in deep shit indeed.

    I just can’t lose the feeling that the destruction going on isn’t just because of an ideology that doesn’t work. I’m thinking it’s working exactly as intended. The people in charge literally hate America.

    I don’t doubt that for a minute.

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