IRS Agents Investigate Ironsworn Players for ‘Pay the Price’ Evasion
Tax season has been over with for several months for most Americans, but the agents of the Internal Revenue Service are still hard at work going after the many people who try to slip though the cracks of the US tax code. Among those added to the list in recent years are Ironsworn players who don’t Pay the Price on misses during their solo play. Internal Revenue Officer Mark Winthrop says that most offenders are small-time, but often repeat sporadically. “Many Ironsworn players are playing by themselves, and think that a small infraction from time to time will go unnoticed just because no one’s looking over their shoulder. But every time you decide to ignore a match pair, or reroll an oracle you don’t like, that’s more work for us at the Service.”
Karolina Grabowska of Montpelier, Vermont, says that she was completely unprepared for her audit. “My paperwork is all over the place. I’ve got a physical journal, my character sheet is on an iPad, and I use The Augur for my map exploration. It’s been a real headache gathering those together for the agents to go through.” Grabowska says that she got into real trouble when the audit revealed she had been improperly filling out her Assets. “I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal. Sometimes I don’t want to start with the default pip!”
Winthrop says that Assets are indeed a priority for the IRS, especially when companions are involved. “We’ve had people forget that their owl or hound needs to be listed among their household, which can be understandable. But it’s when they forget their own kindred that it really rings alarm bells for us. It seems unlikely you would forget about your own shield-kin.” Overall, Winthrop says that he doesn’t want people to worry too much. “We understand that many people have actually paid too much while Paying the Price. While that doesn’t give you free rein to do what you like, it can afford you some leniency.”
