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OT: IRS
Question:
Welcome to AmeriKa. The clock is ticking…. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > If this isn’t class warfare in action I don’t know what is: > Feds Eliminate 157 Auditors of Rich Taxpayers > By David Cay Johnston > The New York Times > Sunday 23 July 2006 > Move cuts ranks of IRS lawyers who inspect returns that include estate > and gift taxes. > The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half > of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of > some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to > gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their > children and others. > The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 > estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days. Kevin > Brown, an IRS deputy commissioner, confirmed the cuts after the New York > Times was given internal documents by people inside the IRS who oppose > them. > The Bush administration has successfully lobbied Congress to enact > measures that reduce the number of Americans who are subject to the estate > tax – which opponents refer to as the "death tax" – but has failed in its > efforts to eliminate the tax entirely. > Brown said in a telephone interview Friday that he had ordered the > staff cuts because far fewer people were obliged to pay estate taxes under > Bush’s legislation. > But six IRS estate tax lawyers whose jobs are likely to be eliminated > said in interviews that the cuts were just the latest moves behind the > scenes at the IRS to shield people with political connections and complex > tax-avoidance devices from thorough audits. > Sharyn Phillips, a veteran IRS estate tax lawyer in Manhattan, called > the cuts a "back-door way for the Bush administration to achieve what it > cannot get from Congress, which is repeal of the estate tax." > Brown dismissed as preposterous any suggestion that the IRS was soft > on rich tax cheats. He said the money saved by eliminating the estate tax > lawyers would be used to hire revenue agents to audit income tax returns, > especially those from people making more than $1 million. > Brown said civil service rules barred the estate tax lawyers from > moving over to audit income taxes. An IRS spokesman said the agency had > asked for permission to allow such transfers twice but the Office of > Personnel Management had not responded. > Estate tax lawyers are the most productive tax law enforcement > personnel at the IRS, according to Brown. For each hour they work, they > find an average of $2,200 of taxes owed to the government. > Brown said analysis showed that the IRS was auditing enough returns to > catch cheats and that 10 percent of the estate audits brought in 80 percent > of the additional taxes. He said auditing a greater percentage of gift and > estate tax returns would not be worthwhile because "the next case is not a > lucrative case" and likely to be of relatively little value. > That is a change from six years ago, when the IRS said 85 percent of > large taxable gifts it audited shortchanged the government. The IRS said > then that it would hire three more lawyers just to audit taxable gifts of > $1 million or more. > Over the past five years, officials at both the IRS and the Treasury > have told Congress that cheating among the highest-income Americans is a > major and growing problem. > The six IRS tax lawyers, some of whom were willing to be named, all > said that clear evidence of fraud was pursued vigorously by the agency, but > that when audits showed the use of complicated schemes to understate the > value of assets, the IRS had become increasingly reluctant to pursue cases. > The lawyers said the risk analysis system the IRS used to evaluate > whether to pursue such cases gave higher-level officials cover to not > pursue tax cheats and, in the process, emboldened the most aggressive tax > advisers to prepare gift and estate tax returns that shortchanged the > government. > "This is not a game the poor will win, but the rich will," said John > Hruska, another IRS estate tax lawyer in New York who, like Phillips, is > active in the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS > workers. > Colleen Kelley, the national union president, said: "If these lawyers > are not there to audit the gift and estate tax returns, then a lot of taxes > that should be paid will go uncollected, and that impacts every taxpayer > who is paying their fair share."
Response:
tick….tick….tick…. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> More class war…. > I notice the company Choice Point is mentioned. This could be a partial > payback for all the work they did for Kathleen Harris in 2000 in FL. They > were the company that purged the voter role database of thousands of > legitmate voters that were wrongly labled as "felons". > "Protection" Act Would Strip Consumers of Credit Safeguards > By Jessica Azulay > The NewStandard > Monday 24 July 2006 > The US House of Representatives is poised to consider a bill that would > make it more difficult for consumers to protect their credit from identity > thieves. > Backed by the lucrative financial-services industry, the Financial Data > Protection Act of 2005 would narrow the circumstances in which consumers > could restrict their credit activity to prevent fraudulent borrowing, and > it would undermine stronger state-based reporting rules for companies that > hold and sell consumer data. > "It’s shocking that at a time when data breaches are in the headlines > daily and consumers are at greater risk than ever [of] identity theft, > Congress would choose to vote on a bill that would strip consumers of their > existing identity-theft protections," Susanna Montezemolo, policy analyst > with Consumers Union, said in a press statement. Consumers Union publishes > Consumer Reports magazine. > Companies that stand to gain from the legislation have spent a small > fortune on campaign contributions and lobbying. > In the last two election cycles, finance and credit companies have > donated more than $12.5 million to political campaigns, and in 2005 alone, > the industry spent almost $30 million on lobbying, according to the Center > for Responsive Politics, which tracks money’s influence on government. > Two of the Act’s four co-sponsors are on the industry’s top-ten > recipient list for the House: Michael Castle (R-Delaware) took in a total > of $116,616, and Dennis Moore (D-Kansas) got $67,729. Another co-sponsor, > Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), received $22,500 from the industry. > One of the most controversial provisions of the bill would make it much > more difficult for consumers to "freeze" their credit, a process that > enables consumers to make it nearly impossible for anyone – including the > consumer him or herself – to open new credit cards without first going > through extra security precautions. > Currently, a handful of states allow consumers to freeze their credit > at will in order to protect themselves against fraud. But the bill would > change the rules so that consumers in all states would have to supply > evidence that identity theft has occurred before obtaining a freeze. > Since their business models rely on consumers having easy access to > credit and creditors having easy access to individuals’ financial > information, finance and credit companies stand to gain from this > provision. But opponents of the bill say those seeking to protect their > credit have a lot to lose. > "It’s like telling someone you can’t put a deadbolt on your front door > until after you’ve been burglarized," Washington state Attorney General Rob > McKenna told the Washington Post. > Another provision that has consumer advocates protesting would set > federal rules for when companies that hold and sell personal financial data > must investigate and report security breaches. > The most notorious of such companies is ChoicePoint, which came to the > national spotlight in early 2005 when it announced that potential identity > thieves had posed as fake businesses and gained access to the files of tens > of thousands of consumers. > Opponents of the Financial Data Protection Act suggest that the > ChoicePoint debacle may never have come to light if not for California’s > relatively strong consumer-protection law that required the firm to notify > consumers in that state whose data may have been breached. > The Financial Data Protection Act would pre-empt California’s law as > well as those in dozens of states that have stronger protection regulations > than the ones being proposed at the national level. > The Act under consideration by the House would leave it up to companies > to investigate security breaches and determine whether there is a > "likelihood that such information has been, or will be, misused in a manner > that may cause harm or inconvenience to the related consumer" before having > to tell government agencies or notify consumers that their information may > have been compromised. > To Montezemolo of Consumers Union, Congress is putting the decision in > the wrong hands. "Consumers are the greatest protectors of their own > personal information," she said, "yet the bill moving forward would let > companies decide whether they would notify consumers about security > breaches." > ——- > If this isn’t class warfare in action I don’t know what is: > Feds Eliminate 157 Auditors of Rich Taxpayers > By David Cay Johnston > The New York Times > Sunday 23 July 2006 > Move cuts ranks of IRS lawyers who inspect returns that include estate > and gift taxes. > The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half > of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of > some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to > gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their > children and others. > The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 > estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days. Kevin > Brown, an IRS deputy commissioner, confirmed the cuts after the New York > Times was given internal documents by people inside the IRS who oppose > them. > The Bush administration has successfully lobbied Congress to enact > measures that reduce the number of Americans who are subject to the estate > tax – which opponents refer to as the "death tax" – but has failed in its > efforts to eliminate the tax entirely. > Brown said in a telephone interview Friday that he had ordered the > staff cuts because far fewer people were obliged to pay estate taxes under > Bush’s legislation. > But six IRS estate tax lawyers whose jobs are likely to be eliminated > said in interviews that the cuts were just the latest moves behind the > scenes at the IRS to shield people with political connections and complex > tax-avoidance devices from thorough audits. > Sharyn Phillips, a veteran IRS estate tax lawyer in Manhattan, called > the cuts a "back-door way for the Bush administration to achieve what it > cannot get from Congress, which is repeal of the estate tax." > Brown dismissed as preposterous any suggestion that the IRS was soft > on rich tax cheats. He said the money saved by eliminating the estate tax > lawyers would be used to hire revenue agents to audit income tax returns, > especially those from people making more than $1 million. > Brown said civil service rules barred the estate tax lawyers from > moving over to audit income taxes. An IRS spokesman said the agency had > asked for permission to allow such transfers twice but the Office of > Personnel Management had not responded. > Estate tax lawyers are the most productive tax law enforcement > personnel at the IRS, according to Brown. For each hour they work, they > find an average of $2,200 of taxes owed to the government. > Brown said analysis showed that the IRS was auditing enough returns to > catch cheats and that 10 percent of the estate audits brought in 80 percent > of the additional taxes. He said auditing a greater percentage of gift and > estate tax returns would not be worthwhile because "the next case is not a > lucrative case" and likely to be of relatively little value. > That is a change from six years ago, when the IRS said 85 percent of > large taxable gifts it audited shortchanged the government. The IRS said > then that it would hire three more lawyers just to audit taxable gifts of > $1 million or more. > Over the past five years, officials at both the IRS and the Treasury > have told Congress that cheating among the highest-income Americans is a > major and growing problem. > The six IRS tax lawyers, some of whom were willing to be named, all > said that clear evidence of fraud was pursued vigorously by the agency, but > that when audits showed the use of complicated schemes to understate the > value of assets, the IRS had become increasingly reluctant to pursue cases. > The lawyers said the risk analysis system the IRS used to evaluate > whether to pursue such cases gave higher-level officials cover to not > pursue tax cheats and, in the process, emboldened the most aggressive tax > advisers to prepare gift and estate tax returns that shortchanged the > government. > "This is not a game the poor will win, but the rich will," said John > Hruska, another IRS estate tax lawyer in New York who, like Phillips, is > active in the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS > workers. > Colleen Kelley, the national union president, said: "If these lawyers > are not there to audit the gift and estate tax returns, then a lot of taxes > that should be paid will go uncollected, and that impacts every taxpayer > who is paying their fair share."