Tax Complexity and the IRS

• 1Did you use a paid preparer or accountant to prepare your most recent federal tax return on business income?
• 1aWhich best describes the principal reason you used a preparer or accountant?
• 2Did you use a paid preparer or accountant to prepare your most recent state tax return on business income?
• 3Do you typically consult a tax professional prior to making a major financial decision for the business to determine its tax implications?
• 4A(tax provisions) Method of tax accounting.
• 4B(tax provisions) Depreciation.
• 4C(tax provisions) Expensing.
• 4D(tax provisions) Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
• 4E(tax provisions) Home-office deduction rules.
• 4F(tax provisions) Pension plans/Profit-sharing.
• 4G(tax provisions) Capital gains and losses.
• 4H(tax provisions) Passive activity rules.
• 4I(tax provisions) Employment/Payroll taxes.
• 4J(tax provisions) Independent contractor rules.
• 4K(tax provisions) Estate and gift tax rules.
• 4L(tax provisions) Business entertainment rules.
• 4M(tax provisions) R & D credit.
• 4N(tax provisions) Rules on amounts subject to self-employment tax.
• 4O(tax provisions) Your state’s sales tax rules.
• 4P(tax provisions) Corporate dividends.
• 5Over the last three years, have you attempted to obtain tax-related information from the IRS Web site?
• 5aA(visited IRS Web site) Download tax forms.
• 5aB(visited IRS Web site) Obtain instructions about completing a particular tax form.
• 5aC(visited IRS Web site) Understand a particular part of the federal tax.
• 5aD(visited IRS Web site) Obtain electronic filing instructions.
• 5aE(visited IRS Web site) Learn about filing requirement issues, such as who must file, when, etc.
• 5aF(visited IRS Web site) Locate general information on penalties, notices, discrepancies, etc.
• 5bConsidering the tax-related information you wanted and the tax-related information you found, did you find the IRS Web site very useful, somewhat useful, so-so, not very useful, not at all useful?
• 6Over the last three years, have you used IRS’s toll-free telephone number to request tax-related information?
• 6aConsidering the tax-related information you wanted and the tax-related information you found, did you find the IRS toll-free number very useful, somewhat useful, so-so, not very useful, not at all useful?
• 7As a general rule, would you like to have your business’s tax deposit and payment records on-line to determine if your tax records match the IRS’s? The information would be password protected. Do you hold that view strongly or not so strongly?
• 8Would you strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree that in the last three years IRS notices and other correspondence have been clear and understandable. If you have no basis to judge, just say so.
• 9Would you strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree that in the last three years the IRS distributed refunds in a timely manner. If you have no basis to judge, just say so.
• 10Would you strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree that in the last three years IRS penalties levied were justified. If you have no basis to judge, just say so.
• 11Consider any and all dealings you have had with the IRS over the last three years. Have they been very satisfactory, generally satisfactory, neither satisfactory nor unsatisfactory, generally unsatisfactory, or very unsatisfactory. If you have no basis to judge, just say so.
• 12What is your legal form of business. Is it a:?

Volume 6, Issue 6, 2006
ISSN 1534-8326

William J. Dennis, Jr.
NFIB Research Foundation