Preface
This book actually began about 20 years ago when I was working for the IRS. I worked out in the field—knocking on people's doors, visiting them in their offices and in their homes collecting past due taxes and securing unfiled returns. Yes, it was I who made seizures of houses and businesses and sold them for past due taxes. One day, after 12 years of this, I was driving back from an appointment with a taxpayer (that's what the IRS calls them) on a country road. Their office had been way out in the country and it was a beautiful day. This visit had not been an enjoyable one—for the taxpayer or for me. What most people don't know about the IRS (at least in my position with the IRS) is that the IRS most often will really try to keep the taxpayer in business. I found myself reviewing business plans, offering advice on where to cut expenses—all to keep them in business so they could pay their delinquent taxes and also stay current on their taxes. Not an easy job and sometimes I had to make tough decisions that affected the lives of people.
This visit ended with me concluding that this business was not viable, despite all the assistance I could offer. So, I was going to have to close it, to end someone's dream. I pulled over to the side of the road, got out of my car, and sat by a lovely stream. There I began to think, asking myself questions like, “What's the purpose of all this?”“Why am I doing this job?” and “Where did taxation come from anyway?” After all, no one grows ...
