Saturday, June 12, 2021

Prose Poem: The I.R.S. almost never audits private equity firms, even as whistle-blowers have filed claims alleging illegal tax avoidance.

 While intensive examinations of large multinational companies are common, the I.R.S. rarely conducts detailed audits of private equity firms, according to current and former agency officials.  

(NYT)


So I dropped a dollar bill on the sidewalk/and this guy pounces on it like a cheetah/I said "Hey that's mine!"/He gave me a serene smile before answering/"Mister, this is your lucky day/I'm gonna use your dollar/for a private equity deal/that will knock your socks off/"I don't want my socks knocked off" I told him severely/"I just want my friggin dollar back!"/He paid no attention to my outrage/Instead he gathered a large crowd around him/and began tearing bits off my dollar/and handing them out/to complete strangers/telling them "Give me all your spare change for this bit of bona fide/U.S. currency/and I'll guarantee  twenty percent profit within two weeks"/People were slow to respond at first/but then he added/"And folks, you'll never pay any taxes on the money you make with this deal"/That did the trick/The crowd almost smothered him/giving him quarters and dimes and five dollar bills/even credit cards/He pocketed it all/looking as smug/as a Republican denying the vote to a new minority/When the crowd was gone he told me/"Meet me back at this exact same spot in one week and we'll divvy up the loot"/Then he disappeared in a cloud of brimstone/I was skeptical/but I came back in a week/and by golly/he was right there/with a satchel full of hundred dollar bills/which he handed to me with a wink/then mounted his Tengu/to fly off into the marmalade sunset.

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