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New law helps Florida property owners dispute tax assessments

Joe Ruble reported of a change in Florida Property tax law where Florida Property owners do not have to prove that the assessment is wrong in which only 10% of those disputing their property tax assessment won their disputes in 2007 (other than Dade County) which had a different type of dispute process. The new law will allow allows taxpayers to merely bring more compelling evidence of their assessment in order to prevail with a change in their Florida property tax valuation. Florida Governor Charlie Crist said this was intended to bring fairness back to the Florida homeowners. For the full article see New law helps property owners dispute tax assessments.

IRS to hire 4500 more Revenue Agents. Dispute more returns.

The information below was from an email GiftLaw newsletter that was sent out this morning. The IRS is seeking to close tax gap and collect more with additional agents.

Interesting to note although they do not cite their source that the editors note says 85-88% of the total taxes that are owed are in fact paid and is one of the highest collection amounts in the world. It will be a $400 million dollar increase in the IRS budget.

 

IRS to Hire 4,500 New Revenue Agents
In the 2010 budget proposed by President Barack Obama, there is an increase of $400 million dollars for the IRS. The IRS plans to increase its enforcement budget to $5.5 billion out of the total $12.12 billion IRS budget.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman has been emphasizing the importance of greater enforcement as a method of closing the "tax gap." Increased IRS funds will enable the hiring of 4,500 new revenue agents. IRS Deputy Commissioner Linda Stiff noted that these new agents are the "largest hiring initiative" in recent years.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner indicated, "This budget will also expand job-creating investments in local communities, strengthen our nation's security through financial intelligence, launch new initiatives to enforce the tax code and provide the recourses to address global economic challenges." The new IRS accountants, economists, statisticians and revenue agents are part of an ongoing program by President Barack Obama and Secretary Geithner to close the tax gap.

Editor's Note: With the record budget deficits, Washington faces three financial options. The first is to increase taxes, the second to reduce spending and the third to increase tax law enforcement. Because the taxpayers of the United States are among the most honest in the entire world and pay 85% to 88% of the total taxes due, it will be difficult to close the budget gap merely through greater enforcement. However, the current administration is clearly going to make an effort to increase tax revenues with 4,500 new IRS agents.