this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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Is it actually cheaper than the big fish though? You could have four people devote a full year to a single multi millionaire and you'd probably still net more than their annual pay. Hell even if you just matched it it'd be worth.
The little fish can't afford a high priced lawyer. A big fish has several and can pay to keep the IRS busy fighting for years.
It is much cheaper. IIRC, the IRS went after Microsoft because they "sold" the Windows IP rights to a small CD/DVD printing factory in Mexico that MS used to print some installation discs, saving an absurd amount of money in taxes due to avoiding US taxes on the IP.
The IRS spent millions of dollars attempting to get MS to pay up. MS damaged the careers of the people in the government that gave the IRS the resources to go after MS, and cost the IRS an outrageous sum in legal fees.
Craziest part of it all: MS managed to get the laws the IRS was going after them on changed. Through political donations and lobbying, MS spent considerably more than the IRS was going after them for, to ensure the law was changed in MS's favor.
I'm probably getting a lot of details wrong but there are news articles about it you can look up. The IRS hasn't been given the resources to attempt any common sense obvious big wins since.