[net.politics] High-tech income tax revolt

iccad@tekig.UUCP (IC Computer Aided Design) (04/05/84)

The other day, a friend of mine said he had seen a newspaper article
which described some sort of a movement on the part of somebody or
other to generate dummy income tax returns as a scheme to undermine
the IRS.  The idea, as I understood it, was that if a certain percentage
of the return-filing population filed an extra return at tax time,
with completely fictitious information (name, address, SS#, etc, etc.)
it would clog up the IRS's administrative system so badly that they
would be unable to operate.

Has anybody out there heard anything about this?  I would presume that
it's another crank scheme, but I did hear on a network news program the
other day that some convict in a Georgia prison wanted to get transferred
to a federal prison, so he decided that he would have to commit a federal
crime while in prison in order to get transferred.  So he filed a number of
bogus tax returns in the names of his fellow inmates, and then sat back
and waited to get indicted.  To his surprise, his fellow inmates started
receiving tax refund checks!  He had to write several letters of confession
to various IRS departments before he finally got his wish.

?

riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (04/05/84)

>> ...The idea, as I understood it, was that if a certain percentage of
>> the return-filing population filed an extra return at tax time, with
>> completely fictitious information (name, address, SS#, etc, etc.) it
>> would clog up the IRS's administrative system so badly that they
>> would be unable to operate.

Great.  Just wonderful.  Generate enough chaos and you can cost the
IRS tremendous amounts in temporary employees, emergency equipment
and office space rental, and perhaps even some tax revenues lost in
the confusion.  What will the result be?  Next year's deficit and next
year's taxes will be that much bigger!  Now that's what I call clear
thinking.							  :-(

--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle

smeier@ihuxt.UUCP (S. Meier) (04/06/84)

>> ...The idea, as I understood it, was that if a certain percentage of
>> the return-filing population filed an extra return at tax time, with
>> completely fictitious information (name, address, SS#, etc, etc.) it
>> would clog up the IRS's administrative system so badly that they
>> would be unable to operate.

Yeah, and then I wouldn't get my refund until November, if ever.