this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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Memes

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I get the intent here, but it's a really bad comparison. It's certainly easy to get confused about without base level awareness of finance and accounting things.

The DoD is a government cost center. It doesn't generate revenue. Therefore nothing to tax. Meaning nothing for the IRS to audit.

That's why the federal government has other audit authorities and often contracts independent auditors to help. Those people are auditing department spending and assets related though. This type of audit is not to check if taxes are owed. It's more like making sure the department bank account is correct to keep this simple.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This. Congress is in control of auditing the Pentagon.

The most the IRS would do would be auditing the incomes of people who work at the Pentagon.

Badly put together meme.

[–] SaakoPaahtaa 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Also the pentagon has a sizable black budget that can't reasonably be audited. Now you may not agree with such a budget but goddamn does some cool shit come out of it.

[–] Jiggle_Physics 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, the DOD has a purposefully created black hole for money specifically to keep records of intelligence operations, special operations, and tech/strategical development at a minimum. Everyone in the government with any influence over the DOD knows this. So the shocked pikachu faces when it turns out they can't be audited are clearly fake.

Not saying I agree with this corruption, just that anyone in the federal government acting concerned, or outraged, knew this going in, so this isn't a surprise. Though I would not be surprised if a few congresspeople were just that stupid...

[–] No_Ones_Slick_Like_Gaston 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The Pentagon's accounting challenges, including $35 trillion in adjustments and systemic oversight issues, are largely due to complex and inefficient financial management systems, not directly linked to black ops or secret operations.

These issues stem from repetitive accounting practices and inadequate financial controls within the department.
The audit failures reflect systemic management and reporting problems, rather than deliberate efforts to conceal black ops or secret operation expenditures.

The situation indicates a need for better financial systems and oversight, rather than suggesting a hidden agenda related to secretive military activities. Why?

The Pentagon made $35 trillion in “accounting adjustments” in 2019. These adjustments involve a lot of double, triple, and even quadruple counting of the same money as it got moved between accounts within the Pentagon.

This vast number dwarfs the defense-related funding in the U.S. budget and underscores the difficulty the Defense Department faces in balancing its books.
These adjustments highlight the persistent lack of internal financial controls at the Pentagon, making it extremely difficult to account properly for spending in the largest government budget. Link

[–] Jiggle_Physics 1 points 1 year ago

I am not sure, but you may have misunderstood my point. The DOD has a measure, intentionally put in place, to obfuscate the use of funds. If it has a program to do this intentionally, of course it's going to have a problem with unintentional accounting issues, incompetence, lack of cohesive regulation, graft, etc. going on. What I am saying is that something with an intentional structure for black spending goes hand in hand with general bad accounting practices. Especially something as segmented as the DOD. The structure it's self implies incompetence and intent.

[–] TurtleJoe 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I also want to add that many landlords were beginning to demand that their tenants pay with venmo, or other e-payment services, and those leeches need to pay their taxes.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Which the IRS has acted on, and most these platforms have to send documents to the IRS for anyone that crosses a certain threshold. They are going to have to prove it isn't income or claim it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I found this article on the audit. It's also about boring but necessary things like stockpile management, automation, climate risk, and bookkeeping. It's broken into 30 sub-audits. It sounds like all of these must be fully passed as "clean" for an audit to not be considered failing.

[–] galloog1 0 points 1 year ago

Yep, I'm not sure why folks think this is anything more than some company lost a gas mask somewhere. It's me... I'm the problem it's me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Poor people can't afford lawyers to fight back.

Rich people can.

~~Ergot~~ Ergo, they aim at poor people way more often.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The Pentagon is not some rich dude with lawyers.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The military also doesn't make any revenue probably.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

Oh it does, just for private entities.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah not my fault its a badly considered meme.

I was just responding to the second half.

The IRS isn't in charge of auditing the Pentagon, congress is.

[–] blanketswithsmallpox 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ergot, they aim at poor people way more often.

Or 99.9% of people are poor lol.

Besides, thank you Biden.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/11/09/irs-uses-funding-to-audit-wealthy/71486513007/

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The IRS can audit the ultra wealthy exclusively and it still wont really change how fucked taxes are in the US. The tax brackets are a fucking wreck, capital gains is a joke, and estate tax is basically non existent.

It's like cheering for Biden for really sticking it to those rich folk when he's just checking their couch for quarters.

[–] EatYouWell 5 points 1 year ago

We really just need a corporate revenue tax. Any other method of taxing the ultra wealthy will be abused so that the ultra wealthy are the only ones not paying it

[–] blanketswithsmallpox 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ah true, guess we better do nothing rather than search for billion dollar quarters in the trillionaire holding elite class.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That's what I am saying, this is nothing and we shouldn't be celebrating nothing. It's not like they fixed the Trump admin's tax changes, it's not like they're taxing the wealthy more.

To do more than nothing takes an act of Congress and they're not doing anything, they're doing nothing. This is the legal equivalent of 4th grade graduation ceremonies.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not sure what grain fungus has to do with it

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Nice catch.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago

USA is an empire based on the strongest military in the world. Of course DoD has green light for everything. Or you believe that european countries/japan follow the american interests against their own for good will?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

May I introduce you to our lemmy instance? Sending over $600 without the IRS feeling up on you, lol.

I don't condone tax evasion, but I do oppose mass surveillance and firmly believe "innocent until proven guilty". The biggest tax evaders are large corpos and megachurches anyway.

[–] psmgx 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

IRS ain't going after the DoD. Not their job.

GAO is supposed to do that, and they regularly publish scathing reports about all sorts of DoD shit. Public, too

[–] SpaceNoodle 5 points 1 year ago

Reports which nobody reads and carry no consequences.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] XeroxCool 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most importantly being that this limit, form, and change is for businesses. This is not for personal accounts.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That is for businesses, Cash app PayPal venmo etc,to report to the IRS that you had this source of income. 1099k has to deal with Internet transactions. This is absolutely for personal accounts.

[–] XeroxCool 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Payments you got from family and friends should not be reported on Form 1099-K

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yes, yet this is what people are acting as if this regulations are. Keyword here is should.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s just a missing missile or two here and there

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And in some cases they've found more. The miss numbers being thrown around are typically aggregate of all overage and underage combined. That way all errors are highlighted and the overages don't net out some underages.

The other funny thing is how it's fucking Russia. These audits are partially why old assets were depreciated even further. Which freed up more "spending" for Ukraine.

I'm even old enough to remember Republicans started this whole thing as a gotcha to Clinton. It was so they could prove with all the departments being audited that taxes could be cut. Then the only department that got a pass was DoD. Right when Bush came in. And they then kicked that can a few more times until Obama was President. Then it was suddenly a big deal to Republicans again for DoD to finally start doing audits.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So these are basically audits that are designed to fail for political points, or at least that's how it started?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Mostly yes. The Newt Gingrich lead house Republicans wanted to do anything they could to make Clinton look bad. Somewhere around 97 these audits started across all federal offices. Point being to "prove" waste was happening and taxes for rich people could be cut. Dems went along with it because it's not actually a bad idea. But right out of the gate the Republicans made sure DoD was given a pass.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The only certainties are death and taxes, but I'm still waiting on both to catch up with me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fyi, if the IRS thinks you are dead, they stop coming after the taxes. I'm not totally clear on the legalities of it, though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah that's what I was thinking, potentially only one of them could win the race!