A TAX DAY RESOLUTION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: PASS AN AUDIT
Patrick Sullivan | 04.15.24
A Tax Day Resolution for the Department of Defense: Pass an Audit
It is April 15, the deadline for Americans to pay taxes to the United States federal government. This annual drill is a hassle in the main, but one that cannot be ignored; failure to pay on time induces a quickly escalating series of penalties, and then interest on the penalties. As such, Tax Day can be an important forcing function for taxpayers to get their financial houses in order.
Part of this ordering is ensuring payment of the full amount of taxes owed as prescribed by federal tax law. Failure in this regard in can induce not just the penalties and interest, but also a financial audit courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service. Many taxpayers fear getting audited by the IRS and subjecting their entire financial lives to the full weight of government bureaucratic scrutiny. The auditing process is uncomfortable and intrusive by design: the United States government really does not cotton to tax fraud (at least at the individual taxpayer level), and the threat of audit is a powerful deterrent.
Thus, auditing serves as an important tool of domestic accountability. This particular accountability does not work both ways, of course. Although the federal government will audit taxpayers to determine whether they paid what they owed, the taxpayer has no direct recourse if the government fails to responsibly spend the taxes that it collects. The taxpayer cannot audit the government. Rather, the government audits itself. Unlike when an individual taxpayer fails an audit, however, there is not a penalty when the government fails one. In fact, the federal government fails its audits all the time, with the worst offender being the United States Department of Defense. DoD has never passed an audit. It is high time that it does.
https://mwi.westpoint.edu/a-tax-day-resolution-for-the-department-of-defense-pass-an-audit/
