Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man's Tour of Duty Inside the IRS

by Rick Yancey

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060555610
• ISBN13: 9780060555610
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 361 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A Big Surprise

I got this book in hardcover last year after going through a real-life IRS audit of my own. I was hoping to gain some insight about the weirdo guy who did my audit and the odd, fortress-like feeling of the IRS building. What I found in Richard Yancey's book was a big surprise: a brilliant character study of the protagonist, an IRS collection agent with a conscience, and his riveting observations of everything around him. He explains the no-mercy, warfare mindset that is drilled into the heads of collection agents. He has a great cast of characters, fascinating explorations of both the collectors and their prey. The most intriguing part of book is Yancey's personal transformation. This is well-written, compelling stuff, done in sort of a David Sedaris memoir style, funny but sometimes painful. Although it's non-fiction, there is a real story here, with a beginning, middle, and end. This is quite a trick to pull off in a non-fiction book. I'm sure it's "dramatized" a bit to make this work, but who cares? I loved it. So now that you've turned in your 1040's, check this one out. I couldn't put it down.

Oddly Compelling

Admit it. You think this book is probably pretty boring. Tax Collector? Well, I assure you, it is certainly not boring; rather, it is an oddly compelling read that I just couldn't put down. (And no one is more shocked about that than I am!) Richard Yancey worked for 12 years as a revenue officer for the IRS collecting (or at least attempting to collect) unpaid employment taxes from small businesses. It was an interesting, challenging and sometimes grueling job for Yancey. Yancey's story is an interesting read for many reasons. First, he is an excellent writer. Second, the story he has to tell is interesting. His co-workers were a collection of colorful souls, all flawed, none of them the straight-laced, buttoned up type. Yancey also structures the story well and doesn't bore us with any memoir-style introspection. The book is paced well. Enjoy this one, despite any reservations you may have.

too extraordinary not to be true

I'm not a big fan of this type of book, but I finally relented to my wife's demands that I read it. I fully expected to be bored out of my mind --- a book about taxes! --- but this story totally took me by surprise. It was funny, entertaining and completely absorbing. Some of the reviews I've seen in the media miss the point, it seems to me. This isn't so much an expose of the IRS as a powerful exploration of the human condition, against the backdrop of the secretive IRS. Yancey came of age in this story, discovering strength in himself, including the strength to follow his heart to true love. When I put the book down I told my wife, "This is a love story, disguised as a book about the IRS." Yancey talks in the epilogue about the Service bringing him to the place where he could appreciate the things that truly matter in life. Thank God it did, so he could write this brilliant, wonderful book. Don't buy the reviews you read that insinuate the IRS nearly ruined this man's life. In my opinion, it saved his life.

Not Just a Tax Book....

I wasn't sure what to expect when I began this book. Not being a business major, but a liberal arts student I didn't have an interest in the actual workings of the IRS, but I soon learned this book was much more. Yancey explained the "technical" part of the agency's workings in fascinating but everyday terms. I actually enjoyed the personal tale that involved Yancey's finding his way home to be the best part of the book. I think either reader, the one most interested in this agency or the one looking for a book to entertain will be pleased. I agree with reviewer Steve Weinberg, "Confessions of a Tax Collector is not just a superb memior about working for the IRS, it's a superb memoir, period. "

Brillant....Did you see the Christian Science Monitor?

The reviews of this book are outstanding. This author has taken the revelation of this feared agency's secrets and weaved in a beautiul coming of age tale and love story. The critics are loving it as I am sure most readers will. Mr. Yancey has been receiving national praise. As for the O'reilly show, Fox owns the publisher, Harper Collins, so do you really think Mr. Yancey was invited on the show to discuss policy, no, it was to spread the word about this amazing book. I found it to be the best book I've read in a very long time.