the "Headline That Caught My Attention or the WTF" thread

Amazing - fake songs, fake artists and fake listeners....

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/nyregion/nc-man-charged-ai-fake-music.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IU4.9FyW.Ch_6Z9cGeVmh&smid=url-share[/URL]

Amazing - fake songs, fake artists and fake listeners....

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/nyregion/nc-man-charged-ai-fake-music.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IU4.9FyW.Ch_6Z9cGeVmh&smid=url-share[/URL]

It’s a bot eat bot world.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/burmese-python-new-york-permit[/URL]

So now NY cares about valid ID?

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/nys-dmv-state-verification-service/71-6c4cc004-6007-4f0c-990d-f4677bc9a8bd[/URL]

I guess I'll take what I can get. :confused:

So now NY cares about valid ID?

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/nys-dmv-state-verification-service/71-6c4cc004-6007-4f0c-990d-f4677bc9a8bd[/URL]

I guess I'll take what I can get. :confused:

Now that they are making them like CDL’s. Perhaps all should get the same drug test and physicals to keep a license.

Number 9 of 11.

Good ROI for this government expenditure. The should all be this efficient...

[HEADING=2][SIZE=7]Treasury recovers $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from high-wealth tax dodgers[/SIZE][/HEADING]
The IRS credits spending that has ramped up collection enforcement through President Biden's signature climate, health care and tax package signed into law in 2022.

WASHINGTON — The IRS has collected $1.3 billion from high-wealth tax dodgers since last fall, the agency announced Friday, crediting spending that has ramped up collection enforcement through President Joe Biden’s signature climate, health care and tax package signed into law in 2022.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel traveled to Austin, Texas, to tour an IRS campus and announce the latest milestone in tax collections as Republicans warn of big future budget cuts for the tax agency if they take over the White House and Congress.

Yellen said in a speech in Austin that in 2019, the top one percent of wealthy Americans owed more than one-fifth of all unpaid taxes, “leaving ordinary Americans to shoulder the burden.”

“To fix this, we’ve channeled IRS funding toward significant investments to combat tax evasion,” she said.

In 2023 and 2024 the IRS launched a series of initiatives aimed at pursuing high-wealth individuals who have failed to pay their tax debts. The IRS said the campaign is focused on taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt.

Agency officials said since the program’s launch, almost 80% of the 1,600 millionaires targeted by the IRS for failing to pay a delinquent tax debt have now made a payment, leading to over $1.1 billion recovered. And in the first six months of a new February 2024 initiative, the IRS collected $172 million from 21,000 wealthy taxpayers who have not filed tax returns since 2017.

Republicans have called for funding for the IRS to be cut.

Donald Trump’s campaign for president said he would drastically reduce spending on federal agencies — and that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris “cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.”

That debunked claim comes from a plan the Treasury Department proposed in 2021 to bring on that many IRS employees over the next decade if it got the money. At least 50,000 IRS employees are expected to retire over the next five years.

The National Taxpayer Advocate, the independent IRS watchdog, issued a 2023 annual report stating that the IRS employs roughly 681 armed agents.

In its efforts to modernize, the agency this year also launched a program called Direct File, which allows people with very simple W-2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS. The IRS said in April that those using the program claimed more than $90 million in refunds.

While the program included 12 participating states in the 2024 tax filing season, more states have joined in for the 2025 tax season, including Maryland, Oregon, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Connecticut, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Maine.

Good ROI for this government expenditure. The should all be this efficient...

[HEADING=2][SIZE=7]Treasury recovers $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from high-wealth tax dodgers[/SIZE][/HEADING]
The IRS credits spending that has ramped up collection enforcement through President Biden's signature climate, health care and tax package signed into law in 2022.

WASHINGTON — The IRS has collected $1.3 billion from high-wealth tax dodgers since last fall, the agency announced Friday, crediting spending that has ramped up collection enforcement through President Joe Biden’s signature climate, health care and tax package signed into law in 2022.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel traveled to Austin, Texas, to tour an IRS campus and announce the latest milestone in tax collections as Republicans warn of big future budget cuts for the tax agency if they take over the White House and Congress.

Yellen said in a speech in Austin that in 2019, the top one percent of wealthy Americans owed more than one-fifth of all unpaid taxes, “leaving ordinary Americans to shoulder the burden.”

“To fix this, we’ve channeled IRS funding toward significant investments to combat tax evasion,” she said.

In 2023 and 2024 the IRS launched a series of initiatives aimed at pursuing high-wealth individuals who have failed to pay their tax debts. The IRS said the campaign is focused on taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt.

Agency officials said since the program’s launch, almost 80% of the 1,600 millionaires targeted by the IRS for failing to pay a delinquent tax debt have now made a payment, leading to over $1.1 billion recovered. And in the first six months of a new February 2024 initiative, the IRS collected $172 million from 21,000 wealthy taxpayers who have not filed tax returns since 2017.

Republicans have called for funding for the IRS to be cut.

Donald Trump’s campaign for president said he would drastically reduce spending on federal agencies — and that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris “cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.”

That debunked claim comes from a plan the Treasury Department proposed in 2021 to bring on that many IRS employees over the next decade if it got the money. At least 50,000 IRS employees are expected to retire over the next five years.

The National Taxpayer Advocate, the independent IRS watchdog, issued a 2023 annual report stating that the IRS employs roughly 681 armed agents.

In its efforts to modernize, the agency this year also launched a program called Direct File, which allows people with very simple W-2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS. The IRS said in April that those using the program claimed more than $90 million in refunds.

While the program included 12 participating states in the 2024 tax filing season, more states have joined in for the 2025 tax season, including Maryland, Oregon, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Connecticut, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Maine.

How much was the investment?

How much was the investment?

I'd hazard a guess that it was less than 1.3 billion. You can look up the bill, find the amount the IRS got annually and figure it out...

Additionally, that was for the 2019 delinquents. You can bet that they were delinquent for at least some of the years after that, so you can add that for the ROI.

I'd hazard a guess that it was less than 1.3 billion. You can look up the bill, find the amount the IRS got annually and figure it out...

Additionally, that was for the 2019 delinquents. You can bet that they were delinquent for at least some of the years after that, so you can add that for the ROI.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://taxfoundation.org/blog/irs-funding-plan-inflation-reduction-act/[/URL]

The [Inflation]('https://taxfoundation.org/taxedu/glossary/inflation/') Reduction Act increased the IRS budget by roughly $80 billion over 10 years.

ROI?

I'd hazard a guess that it was less than 1.3 billion. You can look up the bill, find the amount the IRS got annually and figure it out...

Additionally, that was for the 2019 delinquents. You can bet that they were delinquent for at least some of the years after that, so you can add that for the ROI.

You made the statement that it was a good ROI. I did not want to fact check.

You made the statement that it was a good ROI. I did not want to fact check.

Problem is we can't figure out how much of that money was targeting wealthy folks, and we don't know how long that work went on.

It could be as mysterious as how much money Mexico gave us for wall construction...

Problem is we can't figure out how much of that money was targeting wealthy folks, and we don't know how long that work went on.

It could be as mysterious as how much money Mexico gave us for wall construction...

Let’s look at it this way. Authorized to spend $80 billion. Will this spending create an $80 billion cash influx? If not, just growing government further.

Problem is we can't figure out how much of that money was targeting wealthy folks, and we don't know how long that work went on.

It could be as mysterious as how much money Mexico gave us for wall construction...

No mystery. $80 billion from the Inflation Creation Act. How do they recover that from all the big bad rich people?

How did we go from a discussion regarding the IRS to Mexico paying for the wall??

No mystery. $80 billion from the Inflation Creation Act. How do they recover that from all the big bad rich people?

How did we go from a discussion regarding the IRS to Mexico paying for the wall??

Bait and switch.

Bait and switch.

More like deflect from the topic at hand.

Bait and switch.

More like deflect from the topic at hand.

And something the 2 of you are Jedi Masters at...

We were discussing how much money would be captured from the extra IRS funding. That begged the question about an old campaign promise that some have seemed to forget about.

To my recollection, the $1.8 billion captured by the IRS is $1.8 billion more than Mexico paid us for the wall...

And something the 2 of you are Jedi Masters at...

We were discussing how much money would be captured from the extra IRS funding. That begged the question about an old campaign promise that some have seemed to forget about.

To my recollection, the $1.8 billion captured by the IRS is $1.8 billion more than Mexico paid us for the wall...

Your original post was about the IRS and their collections and what a great ROI it is. Still waiting for that ROI calculation. Here are my thoughts. $80 billion over 10 years. For us simple folk, $8 billion each year for 10 years? Fair?

So they collected $1.8 billion and spent $8 billion. Sounds like a typical dem scheme to steal our money.

Tell us again (or actually for the first time), what is the correlation between the Inflation Creation Act with an $80 billion allocation to the IRS and the comment regarding Mexico paying for the wall? I see no correlation.

OK Yoda, here you go. First let's correct you total number:

**As of March 31, 2024, the IRS has spent $5.7 billion of its $57.8 billion in IRA funds. Note: The IRS initially received $79.4 billion from the IRA. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 rescinded $1.4 billion, and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 rescinded an additional $20.2 billion

Now you're better at reading graphs than I am if you can figure how much money has been spent to support the auditing of wealthy tax cheats...

**

OK Yoda, here you go. First let's correct you total number:

**As of March 31, 2024, the IRS has spent $5.7 billion of its $57.8 billion in IRA funds. Note: The IRS initially received $79.4 billion from the IRA. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 rescinded $1.4 billion, and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 rescinded an additional $20.2 billion

Now you're better at reading graphs than I am if you can figure how much money has been spent to support the auditing of wealthy tax cheats...

**

Let's first go back and deal with this language -

In 2023 and 2024 the IRS launched a series of initiatives aimed at pursuing high-wealth individuals who have failed to pay their tax debts. The IRS said the campaign is focused on taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in **[SIZE=5]recognized tax debt. So the IRS knew that these folks owed the tax, not newly created tax deficiencies through audit. In other words, just picking up files that fell by the wayside.[/SIZE]**

Agency officials said since the program’s launch, almost 80% of the 1,600 millionaires targeted by the IRS for failing to pay a delinquent tax debt have now made a payment, leading to over $1.1 billion recovered. And in the first six months of a new February 2024 initiative, the IRS collected $172 million from **[SIZE=5]21,000 wealthy taxpayers who have not filed tax returns since 2017. *Again, just chasing those who have not filed returns.

So Yoda looked at the graph and concludes that most likely a lot more money has been spent with a negative ROI.

"[B]Now you're better at reading graphs than I am if you can figure how much money has been spent to support the auditing of wealthy tax cheats..."

I thought about this. The article did not mention any % of monies related to audit of wealthy tax cheats. It merely speaks about collection efforts of known debts.

My conclusion of negative ROI stands.

And finally, nowhere does any of this correlate to Mexico paying for the wall. ***[/SIZE][/B]