I Am Not Sure the State of Florida Understands This Whole Internet Thingie
Every three years I have to endure a sales tax audit from the State of Florida. This year they actually sent me well in advance a list of all the paperwork they needed. I sent everything to them electronically weeks ago. So why do they have their auditor fly to Phoenix, stay in a hotel, and do her analysis of this paperwork on her laptop in my office? In the hour since she has been here she has not asked me for one thing. It is just bizarre. Given that I have been audited by them twice in the past and never owed more than forty or fifty bucks in back taxes from computation errors, I am pretty sure her flight cost way more than the expected value of her trip, particularly since she had done nothing so far she could not have done (better probably) in her own office.
Mary Ritenour:
Ski trip?
October 21, 2013, 10:27 amoneteam:
Excuse to leave the bug infested, humid state of Florida, I presume.
October 21, 2013, 10:32 amJohn O.:
Solely for intimidation. You can't have a fair tax audit without feeling like you're being intimidated by the state.
October 21, 2013, 10:35 amMatthew Slyfield:
I have to go with the phony business trip / taxpayer-funded vacation idea.
October 21, 2013, 11:30 amjdt:
overtime and per diem?
October 21, 2013, 12:16 pmMe too:
There you go again. Thinking like a small business owner and not a state employee. If they didn't spend the extra money the economy would collapse.
October 21, 2013, 2:51 pmThat Guy:
Silly you, it's a junket for her. And you're paying for it! (Along with everyone else who does business in FL.)
October 21, 2013, 3:00 pmMingoV:
Governments have really stupid hands: the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing and vice versa. Right hand: let's get with the times, use the internet, and be more productive. Left hand: let's do more on-site audits so we'll keep productivity low and keep lots of auditors on staff.
October 21, 2013, 4:33 pmEarl Wertheimer:
You forgot that the main purpose of the bureaucracy is to keep their non-productive jobs. If they become more efficient, next year's budget is going to be reduced. Can't have that...
October 21, 2013, 5:29 pmRuss R.:
Part of an audit is to verify that an actual business exists, and that the entire operation isn't merely a front for money laundering. That sort of verification still requires an in-person visit.
October 22, 2013, 7:49 amJohnM:
Flight and Hotel Loyalty points?
October 23, 2013, 6:04 am