Paul L. Caron
Dean





Saturday, March 28, 2015

The IRS Scandal, Day 688

IRS Logo 2Forbes, House Considers Bill To Stop IRS Targeting, Fire IRS Employees Who Do, by Robert W. Wood:

The House Committee on Ways and Means is busy with a bill that could change the IRS. H.R. 709, the Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act, calls for firing IRS employees who take certain official actions for political purposes. The fact that such a bill has been introduced makes you wonder. Isn’t that the law already? Not really.

Everyone wants to feel secure that they will be dealt with fairly by the IRS. The tax system is full of special rules, and no one can master them all. Thus, one taxpayer may be treated very differently from another who is seemingly in the same position. That probably isn’t fair, but don’t confuse this with fundamental procedural fairness and non-discrimination. That is at the heart of the IRS targeting debate, and why the issue is so terribly important to the tax system as a whole. ...

The proposed law would expand the scope of the violation concerning an IRS employee threatening to audit a taxpayer for the purpose of extracting personal gain or benefit. It would also cover an IRS employee who threatens to audit someone for political purposes.

The proposal requires the IRS to terminate an employee who, for political purposes or personal gain, undertakes official action with respect to a taxpayer or, depending on the circumstances, fails to do so, delays action or threatens to perform, delay or omit such official action. An ‘official action’ here would include an audit or examination.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/03/the-irs-scandal-4.html

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

Comments

Why single out the IRS? Does congress somehow think those bureaucrats are inherently more virtuous than those at the FBI, the EPA, the FEC, the SEC, the ATF, the DEA, Customs and Immigration, ...

Posted by: Tim Broberg | Mar 28, 2015 10:23:04 AM