IRS Servers Down During Crucial Week

crimeandpunishment writes "A planned server outage turned into an unplanned glitch for the Internal Revenue Service, and it comes at a very bad time. The IRS planned the server outage for the holiday weekend ... but today they couldn't get the system back into operation. This week is the deadline for filing 2009 tax returns for taxpayers who got extensions. So far it's not having a huge impact since the shutdown only involves the updated version of the e-filing system, and most programs used by large tax companies like H&R Block will default to the older version. There's no estimate on when the system will be back up."

Re:Depending on tax returns?

[afidel]

If you filed an extension it's unlikely you are getting a return (people getting money back are generally incentivized to get them done on time). OTOH if you are trying to get your return in on time to avoid penalties and interest that you probably can't afford then this might be a big deal.

Fine the Bastards

[Un pobre guey]

OK, when I fuck up on my return, I get bashed in the face by the IRS. When they fuck up on your tax returns, it's a "glitch."

Re:Depending on tax returns?

[XanC]

What's wrong with "incite"? The only reason anybody uses "incentivize" is because he is ignorant of "incite". That's the primary reason that "incentivize" is awful.

Re:Can't we just leave the IRS down permanently?

[jjohnson]

A flat tax is conceptually egalitarian, but I don't think so in practice. It's nice and neat to say "everyone pays the same proportion of taxes", but I wouldn't call it egalitarian for someone earning $10,000/year to pay the same proportion as someone earning $10,000,000/year. It's the same basic issue as with a national sales tax: When you're poor you pretty much have to spend your entire income, but when you're rich you have plenty of extra to invest or save or whatever. Limiting the egalitarian-ness of the tax to their income figure ignores the lack of egalitarian standing in how their income is spent and affects their life.

Most flat tax advocates recognize this and provide a set of basic exemptions to poor people, but then you're essentially back to a progressive tax where the rich pay a larger proportion of their income than many of those with less money.

The basic problem with taxation schemes is that they unavoidably implement social policy. There's no such thing as a value-neutral tax--someone is always paying more and someone else is always paying less, and the person paying less is either being protected from an onerous burden or encouraged to use their money elsewhere somehow.

So, I think a progressive tax is most egalitarian when it's set up well to minimize the tax burden on everyone and provide for the greatest class mobility.