Thursday, December 2

in trouble with the IRS...

I found out about an hour ago, that I, yes I, got my boss "in trouble" with the IRS (internal revenue services)! I know!!! Not everyone is lucky enough to say that. In light of Wesley Snipes current trip to the slammer for the next three years, due to tax evasion, I think this is all pretty timely.

So, the story!

As a refresher, I work for a small company...4 people on the payroll, to be exact. My boss and his wife own the company. I am the minion. Well, about a month ago or so, my boss' wife comes in to have a coffee break with her husband. While in the office, she mentions that the IRS has contacted them in order to audit their records for unpaid sales tax. Now, are you familiar with the show Monk? A delightful comedy about an OCD, germaphobic detective...it's brilliant. Watch it, if you haven't already seen it! My boss' wife admits that she is about two steps away from being as OCD as Monk. In fact, she can't even watch Monk because his mannerisms get her all wound up. So when she says that she have fastidious records, you know that she can account for every penny! As for unpaid sales tax, we all drew a blank.

Not every state pays sales tax but in Washington, you do! So everything we buy in the state, which is everything in our office, we have already paid sales tax on. Pens, Paperclips, Paper, Chairs, Computers, Phones, etc...you name it, we bought it locally in our state! How could the IRS think we have evaded sales tax? My boss and his wife, although they knew that this meeting was serious, they were confident that it would chalk up to be a waste of time as this IRS man would find nothing!

So the three of them met today and scoured the records for 4 hours, at least. At the end, going back two years ago, they found one thing...one thing that I purchased online for the company...one thing for which we were not charged sales tax, unbeknownst to me. It was our company brochure paper. We needed more, I offered to take care of it online and so I did.

Folks, we are talking about $5 of tax that we did not pay! Yep...that's all this IRS man gets to take back with him. (Honestly I have no idea how much the tax would be...I think the order was around $100...so somewhere between $5-10 dollars is what should have been paid.)

Funny, isn't it? Good ole' system!

I think I'll make Pumpkin Bread and bring coffee in for everyone tomorrow, due the troubles I've caused! I hope this doesn't go on my record. :)

1 comment:

My name is Cait said...

But the real question is ... did you fall in love with the IRS guy like in 'Stranger than Fiction'?