Tag Archives: IRS

Trump’s Tax Returns Show Evil of the Income Tax, by Ron Paul

Posted on January 9, 2023 | 1 comment

The evils of the income tax—robbing people of the fruits of their honest labor—are understood and mostly ignored. From Ron Paul at ronpaulinstitue.org:

The final act of the Democrat majority on the House Ways and Means Committee was to make public several years of Donald Trump’s tax returns, which the Committee obtained after a prolonged legal battle. The tax returns confirmed that, despite being one of the richest people in America, Donald Trump paid very little in federal income tax. In fact, in at least one year he paid under a thousand dollars.

Trump’s success in minimizing his tax liability without ever being audited is surprising only to those who think IRS audits are mainly used to catch rich “tax cheats.” According to data released by the Syracuse University Transactional Records Clearinghouse, in 2022 lower-income taxpayers were five and half times more likely than millionaires and billionaires to be audited! This is because low-income taxpayers cannot afford to hire top-notch tax attorneys and accountants to help fight the IRS, so they are more likely to give in to the agency’s demands.

Despite claims of the Biden Administration and its Congressional allies, the $80 million in additional funds provided to the agency as a part of the misnamed “Inflation Reduction Act” will likely increase the tax agency’s targeting of low- and middle-income Americans.

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IRS Agents Slide Down Chimneys Looking For Gifts Of $600 Or More

Posted on December 9, 2022 | Leave a comment

From The Babylon Bee:

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MUNCIE, IN — IRS agents kicked off a new holiday tradition this week as they began nationwide canvassing of taxpayers’ homes, sliding down their chimneys in search of undeclared gifts worth $600 or more.

Terrence Poole, Special Agent in Charge of Joy-Quashing, explained the agency’s actions, saying, “We understand that people get caught up in the spirit of the season and all that. But we want to be a constant reminder that celebrating the birth of the Savior of the universe is not more important than giving an account to the government for every single thing you have.”

The Jackson family of Muncie were initially surprised to find the black-suited agents pouring out of their chimney and ripping open their presents, but became cooperative after father Ben Jackson was given an explanation and a brief sleeper hold. “Yeah, I guess it’s our patriotic duty or something,” said Mr. Jackson after regaining consciousness.

Agents will be searching homes during the entire holiday season. Agent Poole continued, “We’ll usually be entering through the chimney. For homes that don’t have a chimney, we’ll either be sending a magic elf through the keyhole or else using an armored personnel carrier equipped with a battering ram to breach a convenient wall. Yeah, one of those. Probably the second one.”

Asked if the agents had faced any difficulties with their searches so far, Agent Poole said, “It was a little embarrassing one time when we ended up in Sam Bankman-Fried’s house. We just apologized and backed out slowly. I’m sure he’s got nothing important to declare.”

https://babylonbee.com/news/irs-agents-slide-down-chimneys-looking-for-gifts-of-600-or-more

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Is the IRS Coming for You? By MN Gordon

Posted on August 19, 2022 | Leave a comment

One way or another the government is coming after your income, your wealth, your freedom, and eventually, your life. From MN Gordon at economicprism.com:

This week, while you were busy working, President Biden signed what he says is, “one of the most significant laws in our history.”

It’s called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.  The name implies it will reduce inflation.  How pumping $750 billion into preferred sectors of the economy will reduce inflation is unclear.

But what is clear, and as confirmed by the Congressional Budget Office, is that the bill will force working-class Americans to pay an estimated $20 billion more in taxes over the next decade.

For the Biden administration, this is all part of its plan to consolidate power, push its socialist agenda, bury workers with crushing taxes, and destroy the middle class with soaring inflation.  The Build Back Better Act may have failed.  But the IRA, which cobbles together much of the trash from BBB, is now federal law.

We’ll have more on this in just a moment.  But first, some context is in order.

Where to begin…

Money provides the means for trading available goods and services.  If a person wants to increase their portion of goods and services, they must first increase their productivity.  They can do this in one of two ways.  By working harder.  Or by working smarter.

In an economy with stable money, those who gripe about not having enough money are, in essence, pointing out they should be more productive.  But in an economy with unstable money, like most economies of the world circa 2022, not having enough money can be a function of where your place is on the money trough…

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Posted in Banking, Civil Liberties, Economy, Government, Taxes

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Want To Be One Of The New IRS Agents? Here Are The 17 Job Requirements

Posted on August 16, 2022 | Leave a comment

From The Babylon Bee:

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President Biden just solved the economy by creating thousands of IRS jobs! We know you’ve always dreamed of working for the IRS, but do you have what it takes?

Here are the job requirements in case you’re interested:

  1. Must be a U.S. citizen
  2. Minimum education: Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting
  3. 5 years of Krav Maga martial arts experience
  4. Maintain a level of fitness necessary to perform a chokehold until a tax delinquent is subdued and/or dead
  5. Must derive pleasure from human suffering
  6. Comfortable with firing squad-style executions
  7. Unable to think for yourself
  8. Ability to use force lightning preferred but not required
  9. Cheered for Agent Smith in The Matrix
  10. Must hate children
  11. Proficiency in ignoring people who tell you to mind your own business
  12. Passionate about auditing Etsy moms selling crafts just trying to make ends meet
  13. Fluent in German, goose-stepping experience is a plus
  14. Comfortable with firing RPGs at the homes of conservative activists with tax “discrepancies”
  15. Previous waterboarding experience
  16. Pass a psychological exam to determine if you sympathize with the government while watching Jason Bourne movies
  17. Looking for the type that shoots first and does the math later

If you meet all these requirements, apply today and make all your dreams come true!

https://babylonbee.com/news/want-to-be-one-of-the-new-irs-agents-here-are-the-17-job-requirements

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Supersized IRS Will Shrink Liberty, by Ron Paul

Posted on August 15, 2022 | Leave a comment

Taxes and liberty cannot coexist. From Ron Paul at ronpaulinstitute.org:

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin recently claimed the 15 percent corporate minimum tax contained in the Inflation Reduction Act, which should be called the Inflation Creation Act, is not a tax increase. Instead, he claimed, the bill simply closes a loophole that allows corporations to avoid paying all the taxes they owe. Despite what Senator Manchin says, the fact is the new minimum tax increases the amount of money some corporations must hand over to the government; in other words, it increases their taxes.

It is common for politicians, policy wonks, and even some libertarians to demonize loopholes for making the tax system too complex, but loopholes are simply ways that individuals can keep more of their money. Loopholes are thus pro-liberty and pro-sound economics.

In addition to raising taxes, the Inflation Reduction Act provides 80 billion dollars to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Some of the money will go to improving taxpayer services so, for example, taxpayers may actually talk to a real person who can provide information about the tax law when they call the agency. But, over 50 percent will be spent on enforcement.

The IRS is expected to hire approximately 87,000 new agents. Supporters of the expansion say the IRS will use the enhanced enforcement capacity to target only “the rich.” However, it is not necessary to massively increase the IRS’s enforcement capacity just to go after “rich tax cheats.”

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Two Hunter Biden Associates Testified Before Grand Jury About PLA-Linked Chinese Company, by Tyler Durden

Posted on March 31, 2022 | 1 comment

Seeing all the Hunter Biden stories surface, you can’t help but think that somebody has decided that it’s time to get rid of his dad. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

With the Hunter Biden laptop scandal heating up again, CBS News‘ Catherine Herridge reported early Thursday morning that two associates of the younger Biden testified before a grand jury last fall about a shady, now-bankrupt Chinese energy company linked to the infamous “10 for the big guy” from Hunter’s emails.

“Federal officials are looking at his foreign business dealings, including his ties to a Chinese energy company,” said “CBS Mornings” host Tony Dokoupil.

“The investigation began as a tax inquiry years ago and has expanded into a federal probe involving the FBI and IRS,” Herridge added. “A source familiar with the investigation now tells CBS News, two men who worked with Hunter Biden when his father was Vice President were called to the grand jury last fall.”

The probe is now exploring whether Hunter and pals violated tax, money laundering, and foreign lobbying laws.

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Biden’s Total Financial Surveillance, by Matt Welch

Posted on September 13, 2021 | 1 comment

Coming soon: the government will know every noncash cent you receive or spend. From Matt Welch at reason.com:

What if every one of your noncash financial transactions was automatically reported to a beefed-up, audit-hungry IRS?

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(Illustration: Joanna Andreasson)

Imagine living in a world where every one of your noncash financial transactions—a restaurant meal, a Venmo transfer to a friend, maybe some bitcoin bought on the dips—was automatically reported to a beefed-up, audit-hungry IRS.

That dystopia will become a reality if President Joe Biden gets his way. Biden, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and key Capitol Hill allies such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) are pushing a vast, intrusive financial surveillance system in the name of closing the “tax gap.”

But don’t worry: There’s no need to fear if you’ve got nothing to hide.

“For already compliant taxpayers, the only effect of this regime is to provide easy access to summary information on financial accounts and to decrease the likelihood of costly ‘no fault’ examinations,” the Treasury Department said this May in a nakedly authoritarian document called “The American Families Plan Tax Compliance Agenda.” But “for noncompliant taxpayers,” the department continues, “this regime would encourage voluntary compliance as evaders realize that the risk of evasion being detected has risen noticeably.”

The administration’s proposed “comprehensive financial account reporting regime” would dramatically increase the types of financial institutions and transactions exposed to the feds’ prying eyes. “All business and personal accounts from financial institutions, including bank, loan, and investment accounts,” would be forced to “report gross inflows and outflows” to the IRS. And not just bank accounts: The dragnet would now include PayPal, settlement companies, and “crypto asset exchanges,” for starters.

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Posted in Banking, Business, Civil Liberties, Currencies, Governments, Money, Privacy, Surveillance, Taxes

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True Civil Libertarians Must Oppose the IRS, by Ron Paul

Posted on July 13, 2021 | Leave a comment

Tax collection is inherently anti-liberty. From Ron Paul at ronpaulinstitute.org:

Progressives who work to end individual rights violations committed by the NSA, FBI, DEA, CIA, and other federal agencies usually overlook, or even support, the routine violations of Americans’ rights by the IRS.

For example, progressives rarely, if ever, speak out against the IRS’s targeting of the opponents of those in power. When liberal Democrats control the White House, the IRS targets advocates of free markets. When hawkish Republicans are in power, the IRS targets antiwar activists.

The Democrats’ election reform legislation would require political organizations to divulge their top donors. Such donor disclosure requirements can be, and have been, used to intimidate donors from supporting “controversial” causes. Yet the requirements are supported by many progressives in the name of getting big money out of politics.

In order to “pay for” their massive spending schemes, President Biden and his congressional allies are planning a huge increase in the IRS budget. The declared purpose is to enable the tax agency to bring in to the government much more money by ramping up efforts to identify and punish those not paying the “proper” amount of taxes.

The tax code’s complexity guarantees many innocent Americans will be caught in the IRS’s expanded net. Yet progressives will support this because they favor the new social programs the new revenue will finance, and because they believe the IRS will only target billionaires and big corporations.

The truth is that most of the new revenue will be collected from middle-and-working-class Americans. These Americans will be targeted because, unlike billionaires and big corporations, middle-and-working-class Americans cannot afford legions of tax lawyers and accountants to level the playing field between them and the tax agency. They are more likely to simply give in to the IRS’s demands.

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The Coming IRS Reign of Terror, by James Bovard

Posted on May 8, 2021 | 1 comment

The IRS is probably the federal government’s most tyrannical agency, and it’s only going to get worse. From James Bovard at jamesbovard.com:

The power to tax has long conferred the power to destroy political opponents. But in the glorious era of President Joe Biden, all previous cases of government abuse of power are being expunged, at least by the media and Biden supporters. That is why it is supposedly safe to vastly increase the power of perhaps the most feared federal agency, the Internal Revenue Service.

After announcing his endless wish list for new federal spending, Biden told Congress last week: “I’ve made clear that we can do it without increasing deficits.” Biden believes he has found a goose that will lay golden eggs for federal revenue — a new army of IRS agents to hound Americans and corporations to pay far more taxes.

The Washington Post reported that “the single biggest source of new revenue in the plan comes from dramatically expanding the clout of the nation’s tax agency.” Slate reported, “Biden wants to fund a massive upgrade to the American welfare state by making the IRS great at audits again.”

But the agency Biden seeks to expand and unleash has an appalling record. As author David Burnham noted in “A Law Unto Itself: The IRS and the Abuse of Power” (1990), “In almost every administration since the IRS’s inception the information and power of the tax agency have been mobilized for explicitly political purposes.”

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The IRS Admits it is Targeting the Poor Because it is “Easier and Cheaper” Than Auditing the Wealthy, by Jenny Jayne

Posted on October 16, 2019 | 1 comment

As if you don’t have enough problems already if you’re poor. From Jenny Jayne at theorganicprepper.com:

The IRS has announced that it’s “too expensive” to audit the rich. Affluent taxpayers, the 1%, are too well protected from government intrusion. Their tax returns are complex and take more time and more experienced auditors to review them. The IRS then has to pay these more experienced auditors a higher price to audit those larger accounts. It’s become an expensive hassle for them. They encounter resistance from the teams that the affluent have behind them to defend them from the IRS. So, what is their solution?

Target the poor.

It is easier and cheaper for the IRS to go after the working class.

As if the struggling working class in this country doesn’t have enough to deal with, watch out for Big Brother! Because lower-income families have fewer resources to guard their finances, the IRS finds it a “better use of their resources” to target the poor instead of the wealthy. Because the wealthy have the means to fight back against government intrusion aka well-paid attorneys and accountants, the IRS has decided that any effort to monitor the “haves” is not worth their time. They will instead focus on the “have nots,” or the poor working and middle class.

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