IRS loses lawsuit in fight against tax preparers

waltky · Jan 21, 2013

A win for the 'little guy'...

IRS loses lawsuit in fight against tax preparers
Fri, Jan 18, 2013 A federal judge on Friday barred the IRS from imposing a series of new regulations, including a competency exam, on hundreds of thousands of tax preparers.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington ruled against the IRS in favor of three tax preparers who filed suit last year with the help of a libertarian legal group, the Arlington, Va.-based Institute for Justice. Since 2011, in response to what it says has been a growing problem of poorly done returns, the IRS has sought to impose a series of new regulations on tax preparers. That included a requirement to pass a qualifying exam, paying an annual application fee, and taking 15 hours annually of continuing-education courses. Attorneys and certified public accountants would have been exempt from the regulations.

The Institute for Justice argued that the IRS lacked the statutory authority to impose the regulations and said they would put tens of thousands of mom-and-pop tax preparers out of business, because the regulations were onerous and create a competitive disadvantage to the attorneys and CPAs who were exempt. The judge's order includes an injunction that bars implementation of the regulations, which have been put in place on a piecemeal basis. The competency exam was to have taken effect in 2014.

Dan Alban, an Institute for Justice attorney, said the timing of the ruling is good because tax preparers who could have been put out of business will be able to work during the coming tax season. "It is also good for the public at large because the cost of preparing a tax return was about to go up" as a result of the increased regulations, Alban said. Alban called the IRS plan "an unlawful power grab by one of the most powerful federal agencies and thankfully the court stopped the IRS dead in its tracks."

The IRS argued in court that it not only had the statutory authority to impose the regulations, but also had the inherent authority to do so. An IRS spokesman declined comment Friday on the judge's ruling. The government can seek to appeal.

Paid tax preparers fill out 60 percent of all U.S. tax returns, according to a study from the Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog agency. The GAO has found significant problems over the years in the quality of work done by them. In one 2006 study, the GAO took tax returns to 19 different commercial tax preparers, and 17 of 19 incorrectly calculated the taxes due.

http://news.yahoo.com/irs-loses-lawsuit-fight-against-tax-preparers-225443691--finance.html
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waltky · Apr 12, 2013

Granny says it just goes to show what a buncha sore losers the IRS is...

IRS: We can read emails without warrant
4/10/13 - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has claimed that agents do not need warrants to read people's emails, text messages and other private electronic communications, according to internal agency documents.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request, released the information on Wednesday. In a 2009 handbook, the IRS said the Fourth Amendment does not protect emails because Internet users "do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such communications." A 2010 presentation by the IRS Office of General Counsel reiterated the policy. Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986, government officials only need a subpoena, issued without a judge's approval, to read emails that have been opened or that are more than 180 days old.

Privacy groups such as the ACLU argue that the Fourth Amendment provides greater privacy protections than the ECPA, and that officials should need a warrant to access all emails and other private messages. Traditionally, the courts have ruled that people have limited privacy rights over information they share with third parties. Some law enforcement groups have argued that this means they only need a subpoena to compel email providers, Internet service companies and others to turn over their customers' sensitive content. But in 2010, a federal appeals court ruled that police violated a man's constitutional rights when they read his emails without a warrant.

Despite the court decision, U.S. v. Warshak, the IRS kept its email search policy unchanged in a March 2011 update to its employee manual, according to the ACLU. In an October 2011 memo obtained by the ACLU, an IRS attorney explained that the Warshak decision only applies in the Sixth Circuit, which covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. But the attorney noted that if a service provider fought the search request, it would likely result in "protracted litigation," meaning that any leads from the emails would be "stale" if the IRS ever obtained them. The IRS did not respond to a request to comment.

The ACLU also submitted requests for documents from the FBI and the Justice Department on their policies for emails searches, but has not received responses yet. Lawmakers in both chambers are working on legislation that would update the ECPA to require a warrant for emails and other private online messages. At a hearing last month, Elana Tyrangiel, the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, agreed that there is "no principled basis" for treating emails differently depending on how old they are.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-v...n-read-emails-without-a-warrant#ixzz2QEG4Xade
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See also:

IRS tracks your digital footprint
4/10/2013 - The IRS has quietly upgraded its technology so tax collectors can track virtually everything people do online.

The Internal Revenue Service is collecting a lot more than taxes this year -- it's also acquiring a huge volume of personal information on taxpayers' digital activities, from eBay auctions to Facebook posts and, for the first time ever, credit card and e-payment transaction records, as it expands its search for tax cheats to places it's never gone before.

The IRS, under heavy pressure to help Washington out of its budget quagmire by chasing down an estimated $300 billion in revenue lost to evasions and errors each year, will start using "robo-audits" of tax forms and third-party data the IRS hopes will help close this so-called "tax gap." But the agency reveals little about how it will employ its vast, new network scanning powers.

Tax lawyers and watchdogs are concerned about the sweeping changes being implemented with little public discussion or clear guidelines, and Congressional staff sources say the IRS use of "big data" will be a key issue when the next IRS chief comes to the Senate for approval. Acting commissioner Steven T. Miller replaced Douglas Shulman last November.

"It's well-known in the tax community, but not many people outside of it are aware of this big expansion of data and computer use," says Edward Zelinsky, a tax law expert and professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Yale Law School. "I am sure people will be concerned about the use of personal information on databases in government, and those concerns are well-taken. It's appropriate to watch it carefully. There should be safeguards." He adds that taxpayers should know that whatever people do and say electronically can and will be used against them in IRS enforcement.

IRS's big data tracking
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LivingNDixie · Apr 12, 2013

I see no reason why the IRS should not use Facebook and eBay to catch tax evaders...

samiam5211 · Apr 12, 2013

Just google MO Money taxes to see why the IRS was right.

waltky · Apr 12, 2013

Granny says, "Dat ain't right - tax code shouldn't be longer dan the Bible...

Tax Code 4 Times Longer Than the Bible
April 12, 2013 - Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said the U.S. tax code is now four times longer than the Bible. She spoke Friday at a “Countdown to Tax Day” press conference organized by Americans for Tax Reform.

“I want to point out that the tax code is four times more than our Bible. And if you look at it, not only is this impossible in terms of the size of it, but look at the fine print. It’s impossible, almost, to read,” Foxx said. It’s not just the number of pages, she said. Given the fine print on those pages, “it belies the real heft of what we’re dealing with here.”

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax code is 3.8 million words long, and there are around 774,746 words in the Bible, depending on what version is counted. That makes the tax code about 4.9 times longer than the Bible, based on word count. In pages, however, the tax code is 57.7 times longer than the Bible. There are 73,954 pages in the tax code, while only 1,281 pages in the Bible (again, depending on the version).

As the April 15 deadline approaches for filing federal tax returns, Rep. Foxx said it takes a minimum of 13 hours for the average person to fill out their taxes. Sixty percent of Americans pay someone else to do their taxes, she said, because the job is “so onerous.”

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/congresswoman-tax-code-4-times-longer-bible
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FreshAir · Apr 13, 2013

samiam5211 said: ↑

Just google MO Money taxes to see why the IRS was right.
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or all those documents just released on those hiding money overseas that are committing tax evasion

waltky · Apr 22, 2013

Might be fewer audits...

IRS to Close for 5 Days Due to Furloughs
April 19, 2013 - The IRS will issue official furlough notices next week to employees detailing that the agency will be closed for five days with unpaid leave for workers this summer because of the sequester.

In a memo to employees, IRS Acting Commissioner Steve Miller said the furlough days will be May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and Aug. 30 with two additional days possible in August or September. During these days, all public-facing operations will be closed as will toll-free operations and Taxpayer Assistance Centers. Despite successful efforts over the past year to find cost savings and our recent efforts to minimize the effects of sequestration, we still had to make tough decisions on the furlough dates and the best way to implement them, he wrote in an internal memo shared with FOX Business.

Every IRS worker will be covered by the furlough. Personnel in charge of preserving systems and building security might be asked to work these days, but will be taking furlough days on alternative dates within those pay periods. We wanted to make sure there is only one furlough day a pay period, and we have also worked to stagger the dates further so that there are some pay periods during the summer with no furlough days, Miller wrote.

The head of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said in a statement Friday that the unpaid leave will not only hurt IRS employees but taxpayers as well. On these days, phones calls to the IRS will go unanswered and Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country will have closed signs in their windows, Colleen M. Kelley said. I believe this is an unprecedented event that leaves taxpayers out in the cold. There is speculation that the furloughs could result in fewer audits this year. A report released earlier this week by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse shows audit rates dipped 5.3% last year and could fall even more this year with less personnel available.

On April 9, Miller testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and discussed the impact of sequestration and told lawmakers that he anticipates a considerable reduction in the revenues the agency will collect and the calls it can answer. "...without a change in the current budget environment, the American people will see erosion in our ability to serve them, and the Federal government will see fewer receipts from our enforcement activities," he continued to explain to lawmakers.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal...se-for-5-days-due-to-furloughs/#ixzz2RBur1kmz
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Ethereal · Apr 22, 2013

The IRS is a socialistic parasitic entity that causes death and disease through the systematic misallocation and waste of scarce resources. How much time and energy has this organization taken away from American citizens? How much stress and fear have they caused over their reign of terror? I shudder to think.

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IRS loses lawsuit in fight against tax preparers

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