IRS

Rich are Rich, and well, the States can't help the rest of us much

Posted Thu, 07/24/2008 - 05:15 by cho
This morning's WSJ has a sobering page 1 headline: States Slammed by Tax Shortfalls. The article by Conor Dougherty, Amy Merrick and Anton Troianovski paints the bleaking picture:
The stumbling U.S. economy is forcing states to slash spending and cut jobs in order to close a projected $40 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year.
The article goes on to inform us that they, the powers that be, are worried [editorial comment duh] about inflation and cuts to services. In my little town that has been happening for over a year, and from Defuning's comment in an earlier thread, it's happening all over. Oh, but that's because we are not part of the top 1%. Those guys in the upper atmosphere are sucking up all the oxygen. According to another WSJ article, this time in yesterday's edition, entitled charmingly Richest See Income Share Rise by Jesse Drucker:
The richest 1% of Americans in 2006 garnered the highest share of the U.S. adjusted gross income in two decades as their average tax rate fell,the IRS said.
jimstaro's picture

Well, Well, A Bright Shining Light in Banking Troubles

Posted Tue, 07/15/2008 - 12:22 by jimstaro
This is a Good one, and what with the way our so called Capitalist Economy has been running for years now, I'm gonna enjoy reading this list, Really Enjoy! Super Rich Tax Cheats Outed by Bank Clerk Technician in Liechtenstein Turns Over Names of Americans With Secret Bank Accounts What we could do with a few more honest disgruntled bank employee's

Nick Benton's Corner: IRS Backs Off Probe Of Obama’s Church

Posted Tue, 05/27/2008 - 06:39 by carol white
Posted with permission of Nicholas Benton, owner/editor of the Falls Church News Press. IRS Backs Off Probe Of Obama’s Church by Nicholas F. Benton Sen. Barack Obama’s religious denomination of choice, the progressive, 1.2-million-member United Church of Christ, announced yesterday that the Internal Revenue Service has backed away from its controversial scrutiny of the church body.
GreyHawk's picture

Taxing Our Patience Over Tax Privacy

Posted Wed, 02/20/2008 - 14:12 by GreyHawk
originally posted 2008-02-20 04:21:28 - bumped cho

Via ThinkProgress:1

A new article from the Philadelphia Inquirer has blown open the startling plans of the IRS to allow tax preparers for the first time to sell the tax returns of their customers.

The proposal came in a painfully technical tax regulation, which until now had attracted only a dozen public comments since it was announced in December. The proposal calls itself “not a significant regulatory action.” But the proposal is indeed significant, both for tax privacy and more broadly.

Until now, tax preparers could not sell tax returns to outside parties. Period. If they got taxpayer consent, they could use it for marketing, but only within their own corporate family.

The new proposal allows the tax preparers –- from your local accountant to giants such as H&R Block –- to get your signature and then give or sell the full tax return to data brokers, to your boss, to anyone. And there are absolutely no restrictions about what recipients do with the returns. The rule lets recipients post the full return to the Internet if they want.

(Hat-tip to Sarabeth from Delphiforums.)

This is not the first time that the privacy of US Tax Returns was under assault by the Republicans.

Remember the little "problem" that came to light in November of 2004, when Senator Istook slipped a provision into an Emergency Appropriations Bill that granted the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees -- and their assistants -- access to taxpayer returns, without subjecting them to any of the rules governing privacy or holding them accountable for any misuse?2

This seems to be a growing concern for Republicans. Apparently, our privacy isn't worth preserving, and exposing us to a highly increased risk of identity theft is apparently worthwhile.