Paul L. Caron
Dean





Friday, May 22, 2015

The IRS Scandal, Day 743

IRS Logo 2Government Executive, Advocacy Group: IRS' Problems 'Won't Be Cured by Removing Lois Lerner':

Following months of Freedom of Information Act requests, a team of conservative lawyers has sought to rewrite the narrative of the targeting controversy that has plagued the Internal Revenue Service for two years.

In a report leaked to National Review, the nonprofit legal group Cause of Action concluded that employees who mishandled applications for tax-exempt status were following the official agency manual as much as they were their allegedly politicized bosses. The unreleased 35-page report challenges the explanations for the mishandling of applications offered by the congressional Republicans, the White House and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. ...

Cause of Action’s 35-page report is said to conclude that the Internal Revenue Manual must be fundamentally reformed in order to prevent future targeting. “While there are certainly complex or new issues that would warrant or even require an employee to elevate the issue to a manager, the IRS’ desire to be portrayed in a positive light by the media is certainly not one of those issues.”

Reached by Government Executive, Cause of Action leader Daniel Epstein said his group’s “findings, to-date, indicate that the IRS has exercised discretion in ways that incentivize staff to engage in misinterpretations of the law and, in some cases, misconduct.  We believe congressional oversight is crucial on these and other IRS-related matters Cause of Action has examined and agree with the claims of many that a special counsel is appropriate.”

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/05/the-irs-12.html

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

Comments

Mr. wodun, dwelling comfortably in the fact-free world of the right, once again provides insight into the conspiracy that never was. Once again with feeling Mr. w, no one has established any connections--whatsoever--between the WH and the LLerner Gang. Nor has any evidence been uncovered that links "higher ups at the IRS" with the cause of the problem. To paraphrase Chris Matthews' recent comments regarding Dick Cheney, please stop spewing forth your lies, you are harming the country I love.

Posted by: Publius Novus | May 23, 2015 8:41:33 AM

Of course the problem won't end by getting rid of Lerner, her higher ups at the IRS and White House are what caused the problem.

Posted by: wodun | May 22, 2015 11:51:35 AM

exercised discretion = partisan application of the law ...

Posted by: KaiserDerden | May 22, 2015 9:01:23 AM