Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Have You or a Loved One Been Hiding Assets Overseas? UPDATED

Aug 19, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

The New York Times is reporting that as part of the recent information exchange agreement between the U.S. and Switzerland, UBS will ultimately hand over the names and account details of close to 5,000 wealthy American citizens suspected of tax avoidance. According to the Times, Switzerland has 370 days to examine the accounts of some 4,450 clients before turning the information over to the IRS and DOJ. Moreover, the agreement allows the Swiss government to work with other Swiss financial institutions to disclose the identities of other Americans suspected of hiding money offshore.

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Discarded IRS Website Worse Than That Old Mac Software You Used in College

May 27, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Last week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced its intention to scrap a two-year-long, $19.5 million project to create a new tax-filing website. The agency's Chief Information Officer cancelled the new website due to "the lack of a comprehensive enterprise strategy that considered industry best practices or advancements in portal technology, and budget challenges due to the significant expenditure requirements necessary to replace existing equipment." That's government speak for, "We let this project get out of hand by not employing proper oversight, and so, now the stuff we were going to buy to utilize our newfangled website won't work with it." You can read the rest of the agency's explanation in their report. Guess those new heights of customer service IRS was striving towards will have to wait a few years.

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IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman Not Really Grilled by Subcommittee

May 20, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Yesterday morning, I attended a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing to listen to Douglas H. Shulman, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), provide testimony on the funds Congress will supply to his agency this upcoming fiscal year. I had hoped that subcommittee members would question Shulman over the deteriorating quality of the agency's audits over the past few years – especially those performed on corporations and wealthy individuals – and the insufficient level of services provided to those who claim the overly complicated Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Despite the absence of any of these inquires, there were two interesting exchanges during the hearing.

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IRS to Receive More Funding in Some Critical Areas

May 12, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

I wanted to follow up on Matt's blog post from last week about how regulatory agencies fared in President Obama's FY 2010 budget proposal. As Matt pointed out, the administration is making major investments in some agencies while shortchanging others. One of the agencies Matt didn't cover was the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which is a microcosm of the larger trend Matt was pointing out.

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IRS Oversight Board 2008 Annual Report to Congress

Apr 17, 2009 by Craig Jennings

The IRS Oversight Board issued its 2008 Annual Report to Congress this week. There might be a whole lot of interesting tidbits in there, but I wouldn't know; I've been preoccupied with the spending side of the federal government lately. I did, however, want to get this out there, so here it is.

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IRS Unsure When PACI Report Will be Released

Apr 8, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

According to BNA Money and Politics ($$), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) annual report on the political activity compliance initiative project (PACI) for the 2008 campaign season "is in abeyance." The PACI report details cases that were examined for any possible campaign intervention.

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IRS Stepping it Up!

Mar 31, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

BNA reported (sorry, no link) last night that the IRS is set to step up its enforcement of the tax code by hiring additional revenue agents and officers. While you might not like the IRS, this is great news for starting to chip away at the $345 billion annual tax gap. Deputy Commission for Services and Enforcement Linda Stiff gives more details.

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IRS Ends Private Debt Collection Program

Mar 6, 2009 by Craig Jennings

An IRS press release brings us some good news this morning.

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IRS Private Debt Collection Program's Usefulness Reconsidered

Feb 6, 2009 by Craig Jennings

IRS logo Just one day after Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) introduced legislation (H.R. 796) to repeal IRS's authority to outsource private debt collection (PDC), the IRS began a 30-day independent-party review of its private debt collection program. If the agency decides against renewing contracts with CBE Group and Pioneer Recovery, the two private debt collectors, the PDC program would be terminated by March 6.