You work for a HUGE publicly traded company and you are in the middle of dealing...

 

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You work for a HUGE publicly traded company and you are in the middle of dealing with auditors - from the IRS! They claim you overstated a tax DEDUCTION by a LOT-your Company claimed a $200 million deduction in 2021 when it should have been claimed over a five year period - $40 Million per year beginning in 2021. THE IRS and you agree - it was a mistake - just a mistake - and you tell the IRS to make the adjustment, by adding the net - $160 million-to your taxable income for 2021! This will trigger an additional tax of over $30 million (at tax rate of 21%) - UGHHH! Months go by and the audit continues. Eventually the IRS makes an assessment, closing out the audit, AND you notice on the "Notice of Adjustment" that the $160 million increase in taxable income is only shown as a $16 million adjustment! That's a $144 million difference - which will save your company the $30 million tax hit you feared on this change! You look like a HERO! Q1 - You have 30 days to respond to the Notice of Adjustment from the IRS. What do you do? Do you tell them? Do you ignore THEIR mistake - hey, they screwed up! Are they "baiting" you - hmmmm - to see how you will respond? Your company DOES have a Code of Ethics but, man, who reads that legal crap! Once again it's those lawyers and those HR people messing us up! And, you got a duty to your shareholders to save money/maximize value, right! But you are also a taxpayer - so if your company saves taxes that means others, in theory, have to make up tax dollars, right? Q2-instead of a PUBLIC COMPANY you work for a HUGE PRIVATE COMPANY - an OLD FAMILY BUSINESS. Change answer? You work for a HUGE publicly traded company and you are in the middle of dealing with auditors - from the IRS! They claim you overstated a tax DEDUCTION by a LOT-your Company claimed a $200 million deduction in 2021 when it should have been claimed over a five year period - $40 Million per year beginning in 2021. THE IRS and you agree - it was a mistake - just a mistake - and you tell the IRS to make the adjustment, by adding the net - $160 million-to your taxable income for 2021! This will trigger an additional tax of over $30 million (at tax rate of 21%) - UGHHH! Months go by and the audit continues. Eventually the IRS makes an assessment, closing out the audit, AND you notice on the "Notice of Adjustment" that the $160 million increase in taxable income is only shown as a $16 million adjustment! That's a $144 million difference - which will save your company the $30 million tax hit you feared on this change! You look like a HERO! Q1 - You have 30 days to respond to the Notice of Adjustment from the IRS. What do you do? Do you tell them? Do you ignore THEIR mistake - hey, they screwed up! Are they "baiting" you - hmmmm - to see how you will respond? Your company DOES have a Code of Ethics but, man, who reads that legal crap! Once again it's those lawyers and those HR people messing us up! And, you got a duty to your shareholders to save money/maximize value, right! But you are also a taxpayer - so if your company saves taxes that means others, in theory, have to make up tax dollars, right? Q2-instead of a PUBLIC COMPANY you work for a HUGE PRIVATE COMPANY - an OLD FAMILY BUSINESS. Change answer?