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Reality TV covers a lot of ground. Personally I am kind of fond of Pawn Stars and Storage Wars. It occurs to me that the tax world has not yet made its contribution to reality TV. You might be skeptical that the right kind of drama is there. Remember though that if you get far enough out of compliance, you can end up with an all expense paid vacation at Club Fed and look at the popularity of Orange Is The New Black.
Real Tax Convicts Of Club Fed?
So I would not rule out "Real Tax Convicts Of Club Fed"(RTCCF). There could be interviews with prominent proponents of alternate tax viewpoints, who count themselves as political prisoners. For example there is Irwin Schiff
And don't forget about Kent Hovind, Doctor Dino.
The latest on Doctor Dino is that he has found a new legal genius who is going to rock the whole system for him. Said legal genius is his cell mate. Just a bit of advice here. When I took the CPA exam I didn't listen very hard to people who had lots and lots of experience taking the exam (other than tips about what the best restaurants near the exam site were). I would follow that principle if I were in prison and be a bit skeptical about advice on how to get out of prison from my fellow prisoners
You could also have interviews with the less prominent as long as they had an interesting story like this lady who is reputed to have made millions off gray market shampoo.
A Better Idea?
The problem with RTCCF is that it is not specific enough to taxes and by the time it has gone that far, the IRS is not really that much in the picture. So to feature IRS people, you have to be dealing with other aspects of the process, most of which offer little video appeal.
The worst thing that the IRS does to most people is send them annoying mail. If there is serious money involved they can hire somebody like me who will either make the annoying mail stop after a while or tell them that they should write a check. If they can't afford to write the check, I'll refer them to somebody who works collections, who will either make the annoying mail stop after a while or tell them they will have to write a probably smaller check. If there is not serious money involved the annoying mail might continue indefinitely. It is supposed to stop after ten years, but sometimes the computers don't work right. I'm oversimplifying it, but we are talking about TV here. Even though people can get quite excited about the matters and aspects of it are intellectually interesting, it is extremely boring from a visual viewpoint.
If there is enough money involved, there is an alternative to the rather rare one of having you arrested. The IRS can take your money. Easiest is tax refunds, but they can also grab bank accounts. Visually, that is still pretty boring. There is something that has the potential for visual excitement though. The IRS can also take your stuff, like you car, for example, and auction it off. If you are interested in vintage automobiles, here is a 1937 Ford you can bid on later this month. This aspect of IRS operations, may have the elements of a reality TV show.
Real Seizures From Delinquent Taxpayers?
Unfortunately, IRS confidentiality rules probably make it impractical to do something like COPS
A recent internal IRS memorandum gives me hope that someone might be testing the concept from the other viewpoint, which probably has more entertainment potential Here is the full text:
Number: 201350035
Release Date: 12/13/2013
From: [Redacted Text]
Sent: Friday, August 02, 2013 11:13:58 AM
To: [Redacted Text]
Cc: [Redacted Text]
Bcc: [Redacted Text]
Subject: RE: Request for Informal Advice Taxpayers Intend to Videotape Seizure
Hi,
The consensus among the folks you emailed (who were in the office yesterday) does not differ from what we discussed. There is nothing that we are aware of that would bar a taxpayer from videotaping a seizure occurring in his home. As promised though, I did email the Br practice group asking if anyone knows of any statutory provision (Code or otherwise), reg or whatnot that prohibits the videotaping of a seizure on the taxpayer's property. I've gotten no affirmative responses. But if something comes up between now and Monday, I'll definitely let you know.
There is one thing worth mentioning. There are provisions that criminalize forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with a federal employee engaged in the performance of official duties (18 USC 111) and corruptly or by force or threats of force endeavoring to intimidate or impede any federal employee acting in an official capacity under the Code (
IRC 7212). But peacefully videotaping the seizure would not fun afoul of these provisions. And there is nothing indicated thus far that suggests that the tp is not going to act peacefully.
If you would like to discuss this further, please contact me. Have a good weekend.
One of the reasons I love to read Chief Counsel Advice is the homey informal tone of some of the memos. Somebody out in the field needs some advice and here's what the folks who happened to be in the office kind of think.
I wondered whether this might be an ongoing project of anti-tax enthusiasts, which sent me to youtube. I was only able to find one video of a seizure posted
I believe that the silent IRS people in the video are actually not executing the seizure. Rather they are "armed escort". In order to make an interesting story, this would have to be fleshed out quite a bit, but I think you definitely have something to start with. The idea that the vested guys and gals packing heat never say anything might create an interesting element. I can imagine cameo appearances by the Pawn Stars guys and some of the Storage Wars people to comment on the value of the goods being seized.
Listen To Those Screams From Pennsylvania
That cry of outrage you just heard is coming from my blogging buddy, Robert Flach, The Wandering Tax Pro. He puts reality TV in the same category as the expensive and unreliable software, that the rest of his industry uses, the overrated tax reputation of CPAs, the idiots in Congress and the GD extensions that force him to do some work after his brutal tax season, which Joe Kristan refers to as a two month death march. A reality TV show about tax issues might just send him over the edge.
You can follow me on twitter @peterreillycpa.
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