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Paul L. Caron
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Saturday, August 6, 2016

The IRS Scandal, Day 1185

IRS Logo 2True the Vote v. IRS, No. 14-5316 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 5, 2016):

The IRS offers a rather puzzling explanation for why the continued failure to afford proper processing to at least some of the victim applicants should not prevent a finding of cessation. That explanation is that the organizations whose applications were still pending “were involved in ‘litigation’ with the Justice Department ….” The Service’s brief further illuminates this point with a footnote explaining that “[u]nder long-standing procedures, administrative action on an application for exemption is ordinarily suspended if the applicant files suit in court.”

It is not at all clear why the IRS proposes that not ceasing becomes cessation if the victim of the conduct is litigating against it. The IRS position is reminiscent of Catch-22 from the novel of the same name.

Under that “catch,” World War II airmen were not required to fly if they were mentally ill. However, anyone who applied to stop flying was evidencing rationality and therefore was not mentally ill. “You are entitled to an exemption from flying,” the government said, “but you can’t get it as long as you are asking for it.”

Parallel to Joseph Heller’s catch, the IRS is telling the applicants in these cases that “we have been violating your rights and not properly processing your applications. You are entitled to have your applications processed. But if you ask for that processing by way of a lawsuit, then you can’t have it.”

We would advise the IRS: if you haven’t ceased to violate the rights of the taxpayers, then there is no cessation. You have not carried your burden, be it heavy or light.

The IRS’s only further attempt to justify the lack of cessation as to some of the applicants is to refer to its Catch-22 litigation rule as a “longstanding policy.” To this we would advise the IRS: if you haven’t ceased discriminatory conduct, the fact that you have been failing to cease it for a long time does not create cessation. You still have not carried your burden….

Even if we assumed there was voluntary cessation, we would still conclude that the government has not carried its burden to establish mootness because it has not demonstrated that “(1) there is no reasonable expectation that the conduct will recur [or] (2) interim relief or events have completely and irrevocably eradicated the effects of the alleged violation.” ...

[T]he complaints alleged extensive discriminatory conduct including “delayed processing … harassing, probing, and unconstitutional requests for additional information that … required applicants to disclose, among other things, donor lists, direct and indirect communications with members of legislative bodies, Internet passwords and user names, copies of social media and other Internet postings, and even the political and charitable activities of family members.” While the Inspector General’s Report references many of these discriminatory actions, neither it nor anything else presented by the government meets the heavy burden of establishing that “interim relief or events have completely and irrevocably eradicated the effects of the alleged violation.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/08/the-irs-scandal-day-1185.html

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Comments

This doesn't happen without the approval of the highest levels of the IRS and the Obama administration.

Posted by: wodun | Aug 6, 2016 2:32:13 PM

Amazing!! A significant decision on a very significant issue and which is totally unreported by our major news sources other than WSJ.

Posted by: James Millican | Aug 6, 2016 11:27:32 AM