In an effort to reach more taxpayers, the IRS’s Tax Outreach, Partnership and Education team is partnering with fortune cookie companies to turn dessert into an opportunity to provide tax information.
“Now when people go into a Chinese restaurant, and they open up their fortune cookie, they not only can get a fortune, but they get some tax advice as well,” Derek Ganter, director of stakeholder liaison at the Internal Revenue Service, said Thursday at a conference in Las Vegas.
The fortune cookie messages will include things like reminders about deadlines. Spidell editors immediately offered the following suggestions:
- She who is charitable reaps the benefits of large deductions (provided adequate substantiation is kept)
- No, this meal is not deductible
- He who keeps receipts is fortunate when the audit man cometh
- It is better to be a cheerful giver to the IRS, or penalties and interest will apply
- Your unlucky number is $9,833. Make a payment online at irs.gov
Let us know if you have any fortune cookie suggestions for the IRS by replying to your Tribune e-mail.