Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man's Tour of Duty Inside the IRS (P.S.)

Twelve years ago, Richard Yancey answered a blind ad in the newspaper offering a salary higher than what he’d made over the three previous years combined. It turned out that the job was for the Internal Revenue Service -- the most hated and feared organization in the federal government.So Yancey became the man who got in his car, drove to your house, knocked on your door, and made you pay. Never mind that his car was littered with candy wrappers, his palms were sweaty, and he couldn’t remember where he stashed his own tax records. He was there on the authority of the United States government.With "a rich mix of humor, horror, and angst [and] better than most novels on the bestseller lists" (Boston Sunday Globe), Confessions of a Tax Collector contains an astonishing cast of too-strange-for-fiction characters. But the most intriguing character of all is Yancey himself who -- in detailing how the job changed him and how he managed to pull himself back from the brink of moral, ethical, and spiritual bankruptcy -- reveals what really lies beneath those dark suits and mirrored sunglasses.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.\*\* They know where you live, where you work, how much money you make ... and that's just the beginning. Welcome to the IRS. Amid cover-ups, illicit affairs, and scheming corporate climbers, IRS revenue officer Richard Yancey pulled himself from the brink of moral, ethical and spiritual bankruptcy, and lived to tell the tale. Download now and discover the internal world of the IRS from an insider.Intrigues. Illicit affairs.Scheming corporate climbers.Welcome to the IRS.Plug anyone's name -- yes, yours -- into the computer at the Internal Revenue Service, add a Social Security number, and within three minutes, they know this about you: every place you've ever worked, how much money you make, who your spouse is, and where your investments are. And that's just the beginning.Confessions of a Tax Collector is the story of how being granted virtually unlimited power over other people's lives can radically alter one's own. Twelve years ago, Richard Yancey needed a job. He answered a blind ad in the newspaper offering a starting salary higher than what he'd made over the three previous years combined. It turned out that the job was as a field officer with the Internal Revenue Service, the most hated and feared organization in the federal government. It also turned out that Yancey was brilliant at it.In this secretive, paranoid culture, built around the premise of war, Yancey became a revenue officer, the man who gets in his car, drives to your house, knocks on the door, and makes you pay. Never mind that his car is littered with candy wrappers, his palms are sweaty, and he can't remember where he stashed his own tax records. He's there on the authority of the United States government.Yancey's keen eye and sardonic wit capture all the intrigue, fury, and ridiculous vanity beneath the dark suits and mirrored sunglasses. While sketching an astonishing cast of too-strange-for-fiction characters, Yancey details how the job changed him, and how he managed to pull himself back from the brink of moral, ethical, and spiritual bankruptcy.Confessions of a Tax Collector is a memoir that reads like fiction. If only that were true. You may never lie to your accountant again . . . because it's the Internal Revenue Service's world -- and we just pay taxes in it.

A produced playwright, former theater critic, and published novelist, Yancey worked for the Internal Revenue Service for 12 years, beginning in 1990. His account of life in the IRS—with the names, personal appearances, and histories of the real individuals changed to protect their identities—reads like a novel, and provides a firsthand view of the institution, its policies and practices, its particular workplace culture, what it's like to learn the ropes as a trainee, and life as a full-fledged revenue officer. No subject index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Publishers Weekly

After failing at a number of jobs, Yancey joined the IRS as a revenue officer in 1991 when he answered a want ad in the newspaper. As a revenue officer, Yancey was charged with collecting taxes from delinquent taxpayers. At the start of his career, Yancey was ambivalent about working for the IRS, but the longer he stayed with the organization the more seriously he took the job. A turning point came during a seizure (when the IRS seizes property from people who have been unable or unwilling to pay taxes), when Yancey stumbled across a band of tax protesters and took it as a personal challenge to root out as many protesters as possible and in the course of doing so found himself living for his job. Yancey's account of his 12-year career starts out as a lighthearted look at his early days as an IRS trainee, but the tone is more somber and reflective as he becomes more enmeshed in his job, breaks up with his girlfriend, and finds himself isolated from nearly everyone outside of his workplace. There is a happy ending to the story, however, as Yancey marries his supervisor, quits the service and fulfills his dream of writing a book. His description of what life is like inside the IRS is generally engaging and shows the fallibility of a system that comprises, after all, men and women who have their own strengths and weaknesses. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Intrigues. Illicit affairs. Scheming corporate climbers. Welcome to the IRS. Plug anyone's name -- yes, yours -- into the computer at the Internal Revenue Service, add a Social Security number, and within three minutes, they know this about you: every place you've ever worked, how much money you make, who your spouse is, and where your investments are. And that's just the beginning. Confessions of a Tax Collector is the story of how being granted virtually unlimited power over other people's lives can radically alter one's own. Twelve years ago, Richard Yancey needed a job. He answered a blind ad in the newspaper offering a starting salary higher than what he'd made over the three previous years combined. It turned out that the job was as a field officer with the Internal Revenue Service, the most hated and feared organization in the federal government. It also turned out that Yancey was brilliant at it. In this secretive, paranoid culture, built around the premise of war, Yancey became a revenue officer, the man who gets in his car, drives to your house, knocks on the door, and makes you pay. Never mind that his car is littered with candy wrappers, his palms are sweaty, and he can't remember where he stashed his own tax records. He's there on the authority of the United States government. Yancey's keen eye and sardonic wit capture all the intrigue, fury, and ridiculous vanity beneath the dark suits and mirrored sunglasses. While sketching an astonishing cast of too-strange-for-fiction characters, Yancey details how the job changed him, and how he managed to pull himself back from the brink of moral, ethical, and spiritual bankruptcy. Confessions of a Tax Collector is a memoir that reads like fiction. If only that were true. You may never lie to your accountant again ... because it's the Internal Revenue Service's world -- and we just pay taxes in it Twelve years ago, Richard Yancey answered a blind ad in the newspaper offering a salary higher than what hed made over the three previous years combined. It turned out that the job was for the Internal Revenue Service -- the most hated and feared organization in the federal government. So Yancey became the man who got in his car, drove to your house, knocked on your door, and made you pay. Never mind that his car was littered with candy wrappers, his palms were sweaty, and he couldnt remember where he stashed his own tax records. He was there on the authority of the United States government. With "a rich mix of humor, horror, and angst [and] better than most novels on the bestseller lists" ( Boston Sunday Globe ), Confessions of a Tax Collector contains an astonishing cast of too-strange-for-fiction characters. But the most intriguing character of all is Yancey himself who -- in detailing how the job changed him and how he managed to pull himself back from the brink of moral, ethical, and spiritual bankruptcy -- reveals what really lies beneath those dark suits and mirrored sunglasses. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more. Author's note -- Cast of characters -- -- The service -- -- The organization -- -- The occupation -- -- The four protocols -- -- pt. 1. The trainee -- -- 1. Challenger -- -- 2. Shoot them all -- -- 3. Dance lessons -- -- 4. The prince of power -- -- 5. Drain bamaged -- -- 6. Byzantium -- -- 7. Something in the water -- -- 8. Gina's cat -- -- pt. 2. The revenue officer -- -- 9. Leverage -- -- 10. Is it safe? -- -- 11. War -- -- 12. Vengeance -- -- 13. Demigod -- -- 14. Annie -- Epilogue. Describes the workforce culture of the Internal Revenue Service, recounting how the author joined the IRS as an impressionable jobseeker and witnessed cover-ups, schemes, and widespread paranoia over a twelve-year period. For most of the past thirteen years, I have used a different name, chosen by me and approved by our government, to perform the task appointed to me by the people of the United States.