The IRS Scandal, Day 992

Forbes:  IRS Lax Controls Enable Targeting Based On Religion + Politics, Claims Report, by Robert W. Wood:

Everyone seems to agree that you should not be audited based on your religion or political beliefs, nor based on which charities you support. Yet there are still questions about how our tax system measures up. Despite all the protestations that there was never any IRS targeting (even some that Republicans made it up), the weak response to the last two years remains disquieting. There seemed to be bonuses and rewards, not discipline or prosecution.

Now, a new government report says lax IRS controls of audit criteria mean the agency is still able to target based on religious and political views. This time, it is a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, stating that: “The control deficiencies increase the risk of selecting organizations for audit in an unfair manner — for example, based on an organization’s religious, educational, political, or other views.” Precisely how much such inappropriate criteria are being used is being debated, as the IRS scandal reaches day 982. Some Republicans have assumed the worst, while naysayers claim there is still no scandal and still no targeting. ...

The GAO identified what it calls control deficiencies within the IRS system. These flaws open the system to risk that the IRS uses political and religious beliefs as selection criteria for audit. There was already concern about tax exempt organizations, and it could extend to who gets audited too. The GAO concluded that the lack of strong control procedures increases the risk of targeting. The IRS, however, responded in a statement that ... The IRS stresses that audits of tax returns are based on the information contained on the taxpayer’s return and the underlying tax law – nothing else. Politics play no factor in audit selection. ...

This seems to echo The Daily Show appearance by President Obama when he denied any targeting. At the very least, some of the denials have been dissembling. If there was any targeting, we heard, it was rogue IRS employees in Cincinnati. Besides, emails showed there was no directive about targeting. The emails are missing? Hard drives crash and must be quickly recycled. There’s no smidgen of corruption. Cash bonuses? Unrelated.

And the top of the IRS has remained elusive, despite calls to impeach the IRS Chief from Republicans. ...

The IRS is one of most important agencies there is. Our tax system still runs primarily by self-assessment, and taxpayer faith in the system is key. The vast majority of its employees are fair and doing their best. But the agency needs real accountable leadership to get the government’s work done.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 991 (Jan. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 990 (Jan. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 989 (Jan. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 988 (Jan. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 987 (Jan. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 986 (Jan. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 985 (Jan. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 984 (Jan. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 983 (Jan. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 982 (Jan. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 981 (Jan. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 980 (Jan. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 979 (Jan. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 978 (Jan. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 977 (Jan. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 976 (Jan. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 975 (Jan. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 974 (Jan. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 973 (Jan. 7, 2016)
• 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)