I am the most opinionated person I know, yet when I write that is not what comes out.
It may be my head saying…don’t split your audience!
It may just be that things that I am emotional about are harder to write.
Either way, this place {my writing home} has turned into a non-controversial haven.
Every silly story has a happy ending!
*insert smiley face here*
A year or so ago I wrote a melancholy piece about what it means to be a mom blogger. ย That resulted in my email inbox being filled with concerned friends that I might be losing it.
I wasn’t.
Perkiness is a staple around here and that is good.
So, before I launch into a few thoughts that will NOT end with a happy point, I want to assure you…dear reader…that I am fine and just venting.
*deep breath*
I hate the IRS.
I hate the FTC.
I hate Google.
There. ย I said it.
If I go missing tomorrow, please check those three places first.
My hatred of these three staples of modern American online life have ONE root cause – they punish those who play by the rules.
I am a rule follower. ย I can’t help it. ย If I broke a rule, it was completely unintentional. ย Really, my goody-two-shoes is so ingrained it annoys even me.
A few weeks ago, I got a letter from the IRS.
*cringe*
There is no good that can come from a letter from that source.
According to the Government of the United States as enforced by the Internal Revenue Service, I was delinquent in my blog taxes in SUCH AN EXTREME that they were fining me $3,510.00.
Yes, they were FINING me $3,510.00.
That wasn’t what I owed for back taxes. ย That was a FINE for my egregious law breaking.
That was the FINE on my company that paid $495 in taxes in 2010 {because of it’s overwhelming success}.
Yes, the fine was 7.0909090909090909090909090909090909090909090909090909090… TIMES what I paid in taxes last year on this little blog enterprise.
OUCH.
Did I file late?
Nope.
Did I file an incomplete return?
Nope.
Did I do it myself and just not fill it out correctly?
Nope.
My accountant filed the tax report on time, but simply on the wrong form.
The IRS is spending its time and resources to come after a mom who used an accountant to file her little blog business’ taxes.
I feel like Google is turning into the IRS.
We didn’t vote anyone in that has control over Google, but there they sit, making “laws”.
Yes, they make laws.
And quite honestly, their punishment is worse than the IRS fine.
If you get caught breaking Google law, then your site gets banned.
What brought on this rant?
Google’s idiotic penalizing of its own Chrome. {That is NOT a no-follow link and I was NOT paid to put it there}.
They aren’t penalizing Chrome. ย They are penalizing all bloggers.
What this means is that Google can go after a company that has {follow} links coming from blogs…even if they didn’t ASK for those links.
Even though they have NO control over whether those links exist or whether they are no-follow.
This diminishes the ability for a blogger to make a living online.
Not that it was easy before this ruling.
I have had the same issue with the FTC. ย They penalize companies who sponsor posts, but the bloggers don’t disclose the relationship. ย Again, the company can send 1000 emails asking for a disclosure to be added to a post, but that doesn’t make it magically appear. ย They are being penalized for something out of their control which makes everyone wary of playing on this field.
I don’t talk about it much here, but I run blogger campaigns for companies through Business 2 Blogger. ย {again that is a no-follow link, but I do draw a paycheck from the company so I probably am jeopardizing my entire online existence}.
No matter how much I beg or remind another blogger to add a disclosure or make a link no-follow, I am powerless to actually have it happen on behalf of my client.
The bottom line with both the FTC and Google’s policy is that not only are they punishing the rule-followers, they are punishing people who have no power to follow the rules.
The guy that scrapes my site each day isn’t going to change his ways.
The link farms that spam my inbox with enticing offers for $$$ to create a link won’t change their ways.
The one page site that parks on a space one character off of a popular URL won’t change their ways.
The only one that gets caught is me.
And the other rule followers.
It all falls in line with my minivan theory.
I drove a grey minivan for 5 years. ย You know, the one that parks next to three identical grey minivans in ANY school or Target parking lot.
The grey minivan has an invisibility cloak over it – who pays attention to yet ANOTHER mom in a grey minivan?
It is invisible to everyone EXCEPT law enforcement.
I was pulled over for speeding more times in my grey minivan than ANY other car I have owned including the bright red one I drive now.
Was I just a wild speeder testing out the power of the minivan?
No.
I think that it was an EASY stop for police.
It was unlikely I was carrying a gun {I do live in Texas, y’all}.
It was unlikely I was going to throw a fit in front of a car load of offspring.
It was unlikely I was going to show up for court to fight the ticket scheduled during carline.
I was easy.
Stopping dangerous criminals is hard.
So go ahead IRS, FTC and Google…pull over the grey minivan.
The world will be much safer tomorrow because of it.
***The perky Holly will return tomorrow and everyone will be relieved to find out that after extensive cajoling and a few tears, the IRS waived the fine.***It is funny.
I am the most opinionated person I know, yet when I write that is not what comes out.
It may be my head saying…don’t split your audience!
It may just be that things that I am emotional about are harder to write.
Either way, this place {my writing home} has turned into a non-controversial haven.
Every silly story has a happy ending!
*insert smiley face here*
A year or so ago I wrote a melancholy piece about what it means to be a mom blogger. ย That resulted in my email inbox being filled with concerned friends that I might be losing it.
I wasn’t.
Perkiness is a staple around here and that is good.
So, before I launch into a few thoughts that will NOT end with a happy point, I want to assure you…dear reader…that I am fine and just venting.
*deep breath*
I hate the IRS.
I hate the FTC.
I hate Google.
There. ย I said it.
If I go missing tomorrow, please check those three places first.
My hatred of these three staples of modern American online life have ONE root cause – they punish those who play by the rules.
I am a rule follower. ย I can’t help it. ย If I broke a rule, it was completely unintentional. ย Really, my goody-two-shoes is so ingrained it annoys even me.
A few weeks ago, I got a letter from the IRS.
*cringe*
There is no good that can come from a letter from that source.
According to the Government of the United States as enforced by the Internal Revenue Service, I was delinquent in my blog taxes in SUCH AN EXTREME that they were fining me $3,510.00.
Yes, they were FINING me $3,510.00.
That wasn’t what I owed for back taxes. ย That was a FINE for my egregious law breaking.
That was the FINE on my company that paid $495 in taxes in 2010 {because of it’s overwhelming success}.
Yes, the fine was 7.0909090909090909090909090909090909090909090909090909090… TIMES what I paid in taxes last year on this little blog enterprise.
OUCH.
Did I file late?
Nope.
Did I file an incomplete return?
Nope.
Did I do it myself and just not fill it out correctly?
Nope.
My accountant filed the tax report on time, but simply on the wrong form.
The IRS is spending its time and resources to come after a mom who used an accountant to file her little blog business’ taxes.
I feel like Google is turning into the IRS.
We didn’t vote anyone in that has control over Google, but there they sit, making “laws”.
Yes, they make laws.
And quite honestly, their punishment is worse than the IRS fine.
If you get caught breaking Google law, then your site gets banned.
What brought on this rant?
Google’s idiotic penalizing of its own Chrome. {That is NOT a no-follow link and I was NOT paid to put it there}.
They aren’t penalizing Chrome. ย They are penalizing all bloggers.
What this means is that Google can go after a company that has {follow} links coming from blogs…even if they didn’t ASK for those links.
Even though they have NO control over whether those links exist or whether they are no-follow.
This diminishes the ability for a blogger to make a living online.
Not that it was easy before this ruling.
I have had the same issue with the FTC. ย They penalize companies who sponsor posts, but the bloggers don’t disclose the relationship. ย Again, the company can send 1000 emails asking for a disclosure to be added to a post, but that doesn’t make it magically appear. ย They are being penalized for something out of their control which makes everyone wary of playing on this field.
I don’t talk about it much here, but I run blogger campaigns for companies through Business 2 Blogger. ย {again that is a no-follow link, but I do draw a paycheck from the company so I probably am jeopardizing my entire online existence}.
No matter how much I beg or remind another blogger to add a disclosure or make a link no-follow, I am powerless to actually have it happen on behalf of my client.
The bottom line with both the FTC and Google’s policy is that not only are they punishing the rule-followers, they are punishing people who have no power to follow the rules.
The guy that scrapes my site each day isn’t going to change his ways.
The link farms that spam my inbox with enticing offers for $$$ to create a link won’t change their ways.
The one page site that parks on a space one character off of a popular URL won’t change their ways.
The only one that gets caught is me.
And the other rule followers.
It all falls in line with my minivan theory.
I drove a grey minivan for 5 years. ย You know, the one that parks next to three identical grey minivans in ANY school or Target parking lot.
The grey minivan has an invisibility cloak over it – who pays attention to yet ANOTHER mom in a grey minivan?
It is invisible to everyone EXCEPT law enforcement.
I was pulled over for speeding more times in my grey minivan than ANY other car I have owned including the bright red one I drive now.
Was I just a wild speeder testing out the power of the minivan?
No.
I think that it was an EASY stop for police.
It was unlikely I was carrying a gun {I do live in Texas, y’all}.
It was unlikely I was going to throw a fit in front of a car load of offspring.
It was unlikely I was going to show up for court to fight the ticket scheduled during carline.
I was easy.
Stopping dangerous criminals is hard.
So go ahead IRS, FTC and Google…pull over the grey minivan.
The world will be much safer tomorrow because of it.
***The perky Holly will return tomorrow and everyone will be relieved to find out that after extensive cajoling and a few tears, the IRS waived the fine.***
I am the most opinionated person I know, yet when I write that is not what comes out.
It may be my head saying…don’t split your audience!
It may just be that things that I am emotional about are harder to write.
Either way, this place {my writing home} has turned into a non-controversial haven.
Every silly story has a happy ending!
*insert smiley face here*
A year or so ago I wrote a melancholy piece about what it means to be a mom blogger. ย That resulted in my email inbox being filled with concerned friends that I might be losing it.
I wasn’t.
Perkiness is a staple around here and that is good.
So, before I launch into a few thoughts that will NOT end with a happy point, I want to assure you…dear reader…that I am fine and just venting.
*deep breath*
I hate the IRS.
I hate the FTC.
I hate Google.
There. ย I said it.
If I go missing tomorrow, please check those three places first.
My hatred of these three staples of modern American online life have ONE root cause – they punish those who play by the rules.
I am a rule follower. ย I can’t help it. ย If I broke a rule, it was completely unintentional. ย Really, my goody-two-shoes is so ingrained it annoys even me.
A few weeks ago, I got a letter from the IRS.
*cringe*
There is no good that can come from a letter from that source.
According to the Government of the United States as enforced by the Internal Revenue Service, I was delinquent in my blog taxes in SUCH AN EXTREME that they were fining me $3,510.00.
Yes, they were FINING me $3,510.00.
That wasn’t what I owed for back taxes. ย That was a FINE for my egregious law breaking.
That was the FINE on my company that paid $495 in taxes in 2010 {because of it’s overwhelming success}.
Yes, the fine was 7.0909090909090909090909090909090909090909090909090909090… TIMES what I paid in taxes last year on this little blog enterprise.
OUCH.
Did I file late?
Nope.
Did I file an incomplete return?
Nope.
Did I do it myself and just not fill it out correctly?
Nope.
My accountant filed the tax report on time, but simply on the wrong form.
The IRS is spending its time and resources to come after a mom who used an accountant to file her little blog business’ taxes.
I feel like Google is turning into the IRS.
We didn’t vote anyone in that has control over Google, but there they sit, making “laws”.
Yes, they make laws.
And quite honestly, their punishment is worse than the IRS fine.
If you get caught breaking Google law, then your site gets banned.
What brought on this rant?
Google’s idiotic penalizing of its own Chrome. {That is NOT a no-follow link and I was NOT paid to put it there}.
They aren’t penalizing Chrome. ย They are penalizing all bloggers.
What this means is that Google can go after a company that has {follow} links coming from blogs…even if they didn’t ASK for those links.
Even though they have NO control over whether those links exist or whether they are no-follow.
This diminishes the ability for a blogger to make a living online.
Not that it was easy before this ruling.
I have had the same issue with the FTC. ย They penalize companies who sponsor posts, but the bloggers don’t disclose the relationship. ย Again, the company can send 1000 emails asking for a disclosure to be added to a post, but that doesn’t make it magically appear. ย They are being penalized for something out of their control which makes everyone wary of playing on this field.
I don’t talk about it much here, but I run blogger campaigns for companies through Business 2 Blogger. ย {again that is a no-follow link, but I do draw a paycheck from the company so I probably am jeopardizing my entire online existence}.
No matter how much I beg or remind another blogger to add a disclosure or make a link no-follow, I am powerless to actually have it happen on behalf of my client.
The bottom line with both the FTC and Google’s policy is that not only are they punishing the rule-followers, they are punishing people who have no power to follow the rules.
The guy that scrapes my site each day isn’t going to change his ways.
The link farms that spam my inbox with enticing offers for $$$ to create a link won’t change their ways.
The one page site that parks on a space one character off of a popular URL won’t change their ways.
The only one that gets caught is me.
And the other rule followers.
It all falls in line with my minivan theory.
I drove a grey minivan for 5 years. ย You know, the one that parks next to three identical grey minivans in ANY school or Target parking lot.
The grey minivan has an invisibility cloak over it – who pays attention to yet ANOTHER mom in a grey minivan?
It is invisible to everyone EXCEPT law enforcement.
I was pulled over for speeding more times in my grey minivan than ANY other car I have owned including the bright red one I drive now.
Was I just a wild speeder testing out the power of the minivan?
No.
I think that it was an EASY stop for police.
It was unlikely I was carrying a gun {I do live in Texas, y’all}.
It was unlikely I was going to throw a fit in front of a car load of offspring.
It was unlikely I was going to show up for court to fight the ticket scheduled during carline.
I was easy.
Stopping dangerous criminals is hard.
So go ahead IRS, FTC and Google…pull over the grey minivan.
The world will be much safer tomorrow because of it.
***The perky Holly will return tomorrow and everyone will be relieved to find out that after extensive cajoling and a few tears, the IRS waived the fine.***
Please tell me that you’ve contacted the accountant who filed for you. He/she is liable for any errors that result in a tax penalty. I know that you probably don’t want to cause trouble for anyone, but this is the result of that person not doing his/her job correctly – what you paid for. Is the IRS messed up? Heck yeah. But that’s not your fault.
Google just scares the heck out of me. It’s too huge and powerful and scary. Yikes.
Taxpayers are responsible for their returns. Preparers and accountants are not. If a taxpayer, says to the IRS, “My accountant messed up.” The IRS will say, “You only are responsible.” Accountants and preparers know that they are absolved when you sign your name (physically or electronically). Your signature attests to the tax return’s accuracy. The accountant or preparer is not reponsible. You are. No accountant or preparer would compensate for a IRS penalty or interest. They are not legally bound.
I am so glad you got it all worked out! Ugh!!!!
It seems that 2011 and now 2012 is bringing out the *real* side of many, life hasn’t been easy lately, and *venting* is a perfectly appropriate way to release all that negative energy! Glad the fee got waived.
About 2 weeks ago someone in front of me on line at the pharmacy asked me to translate a letter for her and the letter was from the IRS telling her she owed $9,312 in taxes from her last return. First I thought she was going to have a heart attack. Then she said she has used the same firm to file for her and the same person from that firm for the last 11 years without any problems and her income had not signficantly increased. I still wonder what happened to her!
I was audited once from the year I won a car which I sold right back to the dealership as I don’t drive, but I had all my paperwork and sent in my proof of what I actually earned from the transaction and what the car was actually worth when it actually sent to me (3 calendar quarters AFTER I won it). Everything worked out in my favor, but it was my first audit and thankfully it was handled without me going in, but it was scary for sure!
I don’t like any of the ones on your list either! ๐
Venting is good. I do the same thing and keep my blog happy-perky… and I should probably let a little bit of the yes-i’m-actually-human me slip in there once in a while too.
I’m glad to hear they waived the fine. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that happening before. Way to go! ๐
That exact same thing happened to us with taxes last year. We paid the taxes on time, all the forms were right, etc, but we were charged DOUBLE in fees because our 1099 freelance income bumped us into a higher tax bracket. Not that we didn’t pay the appropriate taxes, but just that we paid so much that it triggered a fee equal again to the payout. That makes no sense but it’s what happened. In the end it meant that the IRS kept exactly 99% of our freelance income and we kept 1%. Due to fees. Eff that!
And rules change all the time. It’s so hard to put a disclaimer on everything and the no follow rules still confuse me.
Wow! I didn’t even realize some of this was happening!
I hate the IRS too. For many reasons. They’re like the playground bully. Glad it worked out for you!
So glad to hear it came out alright, but what an incredible bother! The power of the IRS has become truly frightening in terms of what they can do to you, even over simple errors like your accountant had.
You are right on all counts. Thanks for your post!
Holly, you are so right. I couldn’t agree with you more. I am glad they waive “the crazy fine”. Bless you!