If the Internal Revenue Service comes calling to question a taxpayer’s more outlandish expense claims, they should respond with some queries about the tax man’s playful side.
Scrutiny of the IRS accounts has thrown up some real perks that are difficult to justify.
But the IRS is trying to play down the costs – and why some of the items were bought – claiming they were for team building exercises for managers and executives.
That’s another way to blindside an IRS inquiry for exotic business expenses.
The cost is a little out of hand, says the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
Playing card games
TIGTA was leafing through IRS business card statements made by staff and totted up 275,000 payments totalling $108 million made in the two years to the end of September 2011.
Not so bad for an organisation of the size of the IRS, was the first thought.
Then closer scrutiny revealed where the money was going.
Around $60,000 was spent on a toe-curling Star Trek parody shot at the IRS movie studio that cost $4 million to set up.
That wasn’t the only production – the Star Trek disaster https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/03/21/congress-probes-irs-over-tax-dollars-spent-making-star-trek-video/ ] and a line-dancing video https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/06/01/step-up-irs-irs-dance-video-even-worse-than-star-trek/ ] have hit a big audience on YouTube.
Then, the investigation looked at how reasonable the expenses were, especially as this is a benchmark set for everyone else by the IRS.
Tax man buys porn
One cardholder paid $140 per head for dinner, while another spent $100 a head on lunch.
Some had shocking bad luck repeatedly losing their cards that were used to pay for pornography. One cardholder had seven separate accounts, with porn receipts on five stolen cards. What are the chances of that, do you think?
Other expenses include renting popcorn machines; buying Thomas the Tank Engine wrist bands for management meeting, the world’s largest crossword puzzle, diet pills and baby clothing.
Shockingly, in a tax world where everyone must keep receipts and evidence of purchase, the IRS cannot produce copies of the Star Trek movie and line-dancing videos to investigators even though the whole world can see them live online at a click of a mouse button.
Cynics might say that the rules do not apply to the tax man, but TIGTA is like a terrier lapping at the ankles of the IRS and just won’t let go and keeps turning up more embarrassing card purchases.
