Tax Cheats Ripping U.S. Off

And Threatening the Nation's Economy

Chapter 1

Looking at the TV schedule, I thought I would try to watch Colombo last night, if possible. A previous Colombo had been preempted for a political debate.

The “60 Minutes” program was scheduled an hour before Colombo, on a different channel.

But “60 Minutes” was delayed for the football game, which went into “sudden-death” overtime.

I thought I'd just look at the beginning of “60 Minutes” because they usually tell you up front what that week's stories will be.

In the first segment, Scott Pelley, had an interesting presentation about ISIS.

But the second story was a real “scoop” about tax cheats robbing our nation.

I had previously heard about some of such activities, but had no idea that it rose to billions of dollars being stolen by those criminals.

The basic idea is that those crooks file an income tax return using someone else's personal information, and ask for the income tax refund that the other person is entitled to.

Prosecutor Ferar told of one victim who nearly lost their business because they were counting on the income tax refund that they didn't receive.

And also told about another person, a senior apparently, who nearly lost their place at a care center, because they needed that income tax refund to pay the fees.

What happens, of course, when the victim files their legitimate tax return, the I.R.S. comes back and says, “No, you already filed, and we sent you your refund.”

Then the victim says, “No I didn't.”

It can take a very long time to get it straightened out.

People need to safeguard their personal information in an effort to minimize identity theft.

And, if you're a Christian, make this statement out loud, “The Lord will never let me be the victim of identity theft,” and put your faith with your words.

I grew up with cowboy movies. It was a big thing back then, both on TV, and in the theaters.

Ever hear of an actor named John Wayne? He did a lot of cowboy movies, and Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers, and Tom Mix, and many others.

And on TV, we had Hopalong Cassidy ("Hoppy"), starring William Boyd, who also rode his horse in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA.

Of course, much of cowboy movies are fictitious, but much of the fiction is based on fact.

There really were people like that in American history, and men really did kill each other in gun fights.

Chapter 2

Wasn't one of the movie titles, “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral”?

Seems like it starred Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp, and included Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday.

Doc Holliday was, I guess, an alcoholic, and perhaps, a drug addict. I am not recommending the lifestyle of any of these people. But there's an American history, and it includes a lot of cowboys.

We really did have people like Marshall Earp, because they were needed to preserve law and order.

One of the principles set forth in those cowboy movies was that a horse thief would be hanged by the neck until dead.

Stealing a cowboy's horse could ruin him because he earned his living with his horse.

Although death by hanging might seem severe these days, in American history, we used to hang horse thieves.

These tax cheats are like horse thieves in that they can do very serious damage to their victims.

These crimes should be viewed as felonies, and not as misdemeanors.

In the TV program, an ex-con, who had done time for this kind of tax cheat crime, explained the process. I won't go into much detail so that would-be tax cheats won't be helped.

But when they told how many months that criminal spent in prison for his crimes, I was amazed that the period of time in prison was so short.

One thing that needs to be done immediately is to give longer sentences for these criminals who create so much grief. And, in my opinion, I believe the Congress ought to consider the death penalty for the worst abusers.

I understand that in some Arab nations, if a thief is caught, they cut off his hand. If he steals again, they cut off his other hand.

While I am not advocating such a policy, I do think that where that practice is followed, they probably don't have very many thieves.

Several years ago, a TV Journalist interviewed an African head of state of one of the African nations. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure which African nation it was. Perhaps it was Congo.

The Journalist said to that head of state, “Sir, a while back, I was in your nation, and traveling from one place to the other was risky because the traveler risked being robbed along the way. But now, it seems that traveling in your nation is safe. What did you do?"

The black man who was the head of state in that nation answered, “We shot the bad people.”

You know, I think that would work here in the Western Hemisphere.

I remember back when I was doing some Word Processing for the County of San Diego Probation Department.

We would type up Probation and Parole Officer's reports for Superior and Municipal Courts. Those reports had been dictated into a Dictaphone recorder.

There was one case where extreme hardship came because a victim's car was stolen. It caused the victim to lose their job because they had no other way to get to work.

I happened to be riding a local bus, and the bus driver had seen the same "60 Minutes" TV program. I said, “It should be a clue if multiple income tax refunds are sent out to the same address.”

The bus driver pointed out that the TV program said that the I.R.S. software didn't check for that.

I answered, “I'm a computer programmer, and that software can be changed, and should be changed to check on whether multiple refunds are getting sent to the same address."

Another problem is these store-bought debit cards. I had one of those myself for a while, but got tired of paying the monthly fee.

There's a sort-of debit card that the Social Security Administration will provide where their recipients can have their benefits direct deposited to that debit card account.

But the store-bought debit cards, I think, should not be allowed for income-tax refunds, due to the difficulty of tracing those who have them.

It should be required that all store-bought debit card issuers must supply those account numbers to the I.R.S. so that refunds will not be made to store-bought debit cards because of the difficulty in tracing them.

Apparently, by law, the refunds must be made within six weeks of filing the return. Perhaps that period of time needs to be made longer so that the IRS has enough time to match the W-2 forms they receive from the employers with the W-2 forms sent in with the tax return.

The I.R.S. has a change of address form, Form 8822. The I.R.S. could require that the tax filer's refund will not be sent in a subsequent year to a different address from the one used the previous year, unless a completed Form 8822 has been received from that person by the IRS.

Another thing that might help is if the IRS did not withhold quite as much from people's paychecks in the first place, so that when it comes time for a refund, the refund will be significantly smaller.

This could help reduce the problem.

Another thing that I believe would help is to program the IRS computers to keep a running estimate, as the quarterly withheld taxes come in from the employers, of the expected refund for each taxpayer.

Then, when it comes time to file income tax returns, if someone is asking for a refund that is fifty percent or more different from the estimated amount of refund, whether above or below, a red flag should go off for further investigation by a human investigator.

The names of the employers for each taxpayer could also be kept track of, so that if a bogus W-2 form is sent in with a bogus employer, a red flag is set off.

The IRS could also maintain a list of all employers in the U.S. so that if a fictitious employer name is used, a red flag is set off.

This would be taken care of by the IRS computer, but red flags would be investigated by human investigators.

___James chapter 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.

2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,

3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,

10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.

11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.

18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.

21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,

24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

___James chapter 2

1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,

3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"

4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

6 But you have despised the poor. Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?

7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?

8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,

9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill." Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.

12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works? Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,

16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?

17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."

24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

___James chapter 3

1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.

2 For in many things we offend all. If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.

4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.

5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how great a matter a little fire kindles!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,

8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be.

11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries? Or a vine, figs? So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

___James chapter 4

1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?

2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.

3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"

6 But he gives more grace. So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.

11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers. He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?

13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"

14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."

16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

___James chapter 5

1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.

2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.

3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire. You've heaped treasure together for the last days.

4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.

5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.

6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.

7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.

9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.

10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 See, we count them happy that endure. You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.

13 Is anyone among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is anyone merry? Let him sing psalms.

14 Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.

16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.

17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,

20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.