Report rips IRS 'torment' of taxpayers

[Modbert]

Report rips IRS 'torment' of taxpayers - Jennifer Epstein - POLITICO.com

The IRS is tormenting struggling taxpayers in the midst of the nation’s economic woes, the agency’s internal watchdog charged in a scathing report released Wednesday.

Nina Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, charged that the Internal Revenue Service is increasingly using “hard-core” tactics such as liens to enforce tax laws, creating needless misery for taxpayers.

Though she has flagged aggressive IRS liens in previous annual reports, the watchdog said the impact of the agency’s actions has only been compounded by the extended economic downturn.

The IRS filed 1.1 million liens in 2010, close to double the number it filed five years ago.

“By filing a lien against a taxpayer with no money and no assets, the IRS often collects nothing, yet it inflicts long-term harm on the taxpayer by making it harder for him to get back on his feet when he does get a job,” Olson said.

A scathing report indeed.

 

[loosecannon]

yeah well, 30 years ago the IRS was completely unaccountable and far worse.

I can remember a time when it would have been political suicide to nominate a cabinet member who was not current on their taxes.

Now it is political suicide to nominate a cabinet member who is current on their taxes.