Tag: IRS

‘The Government Is Not Our Friend’: Founder of True the Vote Discusses Being Targeted by FBI, IRS

Years before the FBI raid on President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of election monitoring organization True the Vote, already understood that federal agencies were being weaponized against political foes. During President Barack Obama’s administration, her personal, business, and nonprofit dealings suddenly became of intense interest to the federal government. She endured more…


IRS Official in Charge of 87,000 New Agents Played Key Role in Obama-Era Targeting Scandal

House Republicans say they will keep a “watchful eye” on the Internal Revenue Service official tapped to run the centralized office housing 87,000 incoming new agents because she has ties to the IRS’ targeting of tea party groups during the Obama administration. The Daily Signal first reported that IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig had appointed Nikole Flax, commissioner in charge…


IRS Mistakenly Published Confidential Info of 120,000 Taxpayers

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said on Friday it accidentally exposed but has since removed the confidential financial information of about 120,000 taxpayers. In a letter to Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Treasury Department acting Assistant Secretary for Management Anna Canfield Roth wrote that the IRS “recently identified an inadvertent and now-corrected disclosure of…


More Armed IRS Agent Videos Surface Amid Fears of Tax Enforcement ‘Army’

A new video shows college-aged students in an IRS recruitment program carrying mock guns and preparing to make arrests of suspected tax criminals, following shortly after President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that would give billions of dollars to the agency in order to conduct more frequent and scrupulous tax audits. The video…


More Americans Fear Small Businesses, Middle-Class Will Face Higher IRS Audits

Many Americans expect the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to target low- and middle-income households and small businesses, according to a new survey.  A recent Convention of States Action and Trafalgar Group poll learned that 36.2 percent of respondents think the IRS will use its 87,000 new agents to audit low-income earners, middle-class Americans, and small…


Americans Say Small Businesses, Middle Class Will Face More IRS Audits: Poll

More Americans expect the IRS to put a greater focus on low- and middle-income households and small businesses than on the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, according to a new survey. About 36 percent of respondents think the tax collecting agency will use its 87,000 new agents to audit low-income earners, middle-class Americans, and small businesses, a recent…


Revisiting the Flat Tax

Commentary The next time Republicans control all three branches of government they may wish to visit an old idea—the flat tax. When magazine publisher and Republican Steve Forbes ran for president in 1996, the flat tax was at the heart of his campaign. Forbes lost the nomination to Bob Dole, who lost the election to…


IRS Waiving $1.2 Billion in Taxpayer Penalties; Here’s Who Qualifies

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on Aug. 24 that it will waive penalties levied against American taxpayers who failed to file their 2019 and 2020 returns in a timely manner during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency will also issue over $1.2 billion in refunds or credits to taxpayers who received the fees. According to the IRS,…


Ernst Demands IRS Watchdog Audit Federal Agency’s Hiring and Re-Hiring Tax Cheats

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wants Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) J. Russell George to audit the staff hiring and re-hiring practices of the IRS as the federal tax agency moves to double its workforce with President Joe Biden’s blessing. The Iowa Republican told George in an Aug. 24 letter that her request was…


IRS Starts ‘Comprehensive Review’ of Safety, Security at Its 600 Facilities Amid Alleged Threats

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be reviewing safety and security measures in response to what IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig calls “an abundance of misinformation and false social media postings, some of them with threats directed at the IRS and its employees.” In a staff memo released on Tuesday, he said of the agency’s 600…