The IRS Scandal, Day 973

Philip T. Hackney (LSU), Should the IRS Never 'Target' Taxpayers? An Examination of the IRS Tea Party Affair, 49 Val. U. L. Rev. 453 (2015):

In 2013, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration faulted the Internal Revenue Service for the appearance of impartiality because it used names and policy positions such as “Tea Party” and conservative ideology to pick applications for tax-exempt status for greater scrutiny. The Inspector General's review came after members of Congress accused the Service of "targeting" conservative organizations. This Article finds the Inspector General's claim lacks a firm foundation. The use of names to select organizations for closer review fits well within the discretionary space that both Congress and courts provide to the Service to collect revenue. However, a narrower legal and ethical claim is supportable: where an enforcement choice impinges on a fundamental constitutional right the Service should exercise a higher degree of care to ensure that its screening choices do not appear biased in an unconstitutional manner. Thus, this review finds the Inspector General's primary claim regarding it being inappropriate to use names to screen applications to be incorrect. However, it finds that the Service violated an ethical norm because it failed to bring a high level of care to a matter that at least impinged on a fundamental Constitutional right. The Article recommends that the Service continue using names to screen applications for tax-exempt status. However, the Article suggests the Service implement procedures to document an unbiased process when evaluating applications that raise questions of a fundamental Constitutional nature.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 972 (Jan. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 971 (Jan. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 970 (Jan. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 969 (Jan. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 968 (Jan. 2, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 967 (Jan. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 966 (Dec. 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 965 (Dec. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 964 (Dec. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 963 (Dec. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 962 (Dec. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 961 (Dec. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 960 (Dec. 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 959 (Dec. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 958 (Dec. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 957 (Dec. 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 956 (Dec. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 955 (Dec. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 954 (Dec. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 953 (Dec. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 952 (Dec. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 951 (Dec. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 950 (Dec. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 949 (Dec. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 948 (Dec. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 947 (Dec. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 946 (Dec. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 945 (Dec. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 944 (Dec. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 943 (Dec. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 942 (Dec. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 941 (Dec. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 940 (Dec. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 939 (Dec. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 938 (Dec. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 937 (Dec. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 936 (Dec. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 935 (Nov. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 934 (Nov. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 933 (Nov. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 932 (Nov. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 931 (Nov. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 930 (Nov. 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 929 (Nov. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 928 (Nov. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 927 (Nov. 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 926 (Nov. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 925 (Nov. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 924 (Nov. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 923 (Nov. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 922 (Nov. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 921 (Nov. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 920 (Nov. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 919 (Nov. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 918 (Nov. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 917 (Nov. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 916 (Nov. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 915 (Nov. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 914 (Nov. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 913 (Nov. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 912 (Nov. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 911 (Nov. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 910 (Nov. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 909 (Nov. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 908 (Nov. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 907 (Nov. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 906 (Nov. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 905 (Oct. 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 904 (Oct. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 903 (Oct. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 902 (Oct. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 901 (Oct. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 801-900 (July 19, 2015 - Oct. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 2013)