IRS Archives - Page 5 of 5

IRS Admits to Targeting Tea Party Groups

September 26, 2018May 11, 2013 Steve MacDonald

This deserves more coverage than I’ll give it here but I am leaving for Concord to record GrokTALK! We” consider this a primer. The right accused the IRS of targeting TEA Party groups for exception grief and scrutiny while ignoring similar groups on the left. The IRS has officially admitted to do doing this. The … Read more

Ah yes, the IRS’s version of the Washington Monument Syndrome

September 26, 2018April 20, 2013 Skip

When the Citizens decide to remove even a teeny tiny amount of their hard earned money from Government, the reaction is generally swift, vindictive, and done in a way to say “go ahead, and we will hurt you by taking away stuff that we really don’t have to – but we can, so we will”. That is the Washington Monument Syndrome – let’s deprive all those families to whom a trip to DC might well be a once-in-a-lifetime moment, or a school year ending trip. The Government turned into the Soup Nazi: no <interesting thing to visit> for you!

Now, on one hand, I don’t have ANY problem with this Washington Monument moment – or days!

The IRS will shut down entirely for five days this year in order to try to meet its slimmed-down budget under the sequesters, a labor union that represents Treasury Department employees said on Friday.

The IRS will close its doors on May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and Aug. 30, and employees are being told there could be two other days as well.

“On those days all public operations of the IRS will be shut down, leaving taxpayers without access to information and assistance from frontline workers,” the National Treasury Employees Union said.

Right – completely closed. Waiting for a return?

Adventures in Babysitting

September 26, 2018February 13, 2013 Steve MacDonald

J.Robert Smith has a good article at American Thinker on Republicans taking back the tax issue, and that is certainly true, but there were two things in particular that stood out to me… First, the current US tax code consists of almost 74,000 pages. (What the…) Second, on one of those pages can be found this. (paragraphs appear here in … Read more

“Affordable” Care Strikes Again – Spouses and Children Hit Hardest

September 26, 2018February 8, 2013 Steve MacDonald

Last week I reported on new rules released by the unelected bureaucrats at the IRS. In the process of defining ‘Affordable,’ for the purpose of enforcing the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obama-Care), families that cannot “afford the employer coverage that they are offered on the job will not be able to get financial assistance from the government to buy private health insurance on their own.”

This week, the unelected bureaucrats at the Department of Health and (in)Human Services announced that as a result of their defining the meaning of affordable, for the purpose of enforcing the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obama-Care), they may not be able to subsidize the difference in costs between some individual and family plans. If neither the employer nor the employee can afford to cover the difference, spouses and children would go uninsured.

Obamacare and the IRS – such a cute couple

September 26, 2018October 8, 2012 Skip

So much for Democrats wanting to protect your privacy – I guess, like all of the anti-war protesters when Bush was President, the privacy advocates have all gone silent in support of The Won. It just goes to show that for almost all Progressives, it’s all for show – if they truly believed in what they have told us, they’d be marching on DC. Much time and energy has been spent on the Individual Mandate and the IPAB (aka “the death panels”). Well, here’s a part that I didn’t know – or realize:

The IRS will also determine who is eligible for taxpayer-financed subsidies to purchase health care on the exchanges that will be set up in every state. Anytime anyone’s situation changes — a raise, a new job, a move to another state — that person will be required to report it to the IRS for the purpose of recalculating their eligibility.

Got that?? Generally when you have a serious change in life, and you have to report that event to…Mom. Or Dad. Or some other loved one or friends.

So, what have the Democrats wrought here? That’s right – just ONE MORE STEP in having Government be your family (like it or not). So, how’s that gonna feel – literally having a brand new Big Brother (again, brought to you by Democrats as not one Republican voted for this Liberty crushing, 2700 page fiasco. Why is it beginning to feel like it should be called not Obamacare but ObamaBigBrother or ObamaJail ? How’s it feel to now know that the IRS is now an intimate member of your family? Now that you’ve gone “all growed up”, Democrats like President Obama and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and (at the time of Obamacare passage) Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) and Hodes(D-NH) decided that you STILL needed a set of parents – and they thought it just a dandy idea that it be the folks that “touch” you every April 15th (there has to be a Democrat joke in there somewhere…)

Obamacare – Unleash the IRS – Now it gets personal

September 26, 2018July 4, 2012 Skip

Conservatives have often said that Obamacare will fundamentally change the relationship between citizens and their Government. With it being now declared as Constitutional, we may well no longer be citizens that have a Federal Government; we are now subjects as the Feds with the new regulations decreed by the Progressives and the IRS deemed to be the cop (as I posted here).

And it just bit me in the butt. And it will change not just the relationship between the Govt and me, but also between me and my son. And you all had better read this – it may well affect you as well. In that previous post there were a number of things that individuals will have to cough up and “share”.

Sidenote: yeah, “share”. Brings up the insinuation that you get to decide to share or not – you know, voluntary. Just like when Democrats talk about the rich and “asking” them to pay their fair share. They already are, and there is no “asking” – asking means the willingness to take “no” for an answer. For the naive, there is no way that Obama, Reid, and Pelosi are “asking” – they are demanding.

I left out some really important information from that post concerning how the IRS would determine if YOU had to pay a penalty, as I thought it really needed it’s own post and an extremely personal touch on my life that it will now place. From the Fox Biz post (reformatted and emphasis mine):

And it’s the intrusiveness of the health reform law that has raised eyebrows. What does the IRS base your mandate penalty on? This is where it gets nutty.

… that the “IRS will need to determine a taxpayer’s compliance with the individual [insurance] mandate and assess a penalty if coverage is inadequate.” However, the penalty isn’t based on just your personal net income. The penalty will be based on an entirely different number that is more than just your paycheck earnings — your ‘household income.’ “This determination is based on a concept of ‘household income,’” TAO has said, adding, “this may differ from the income reported on the taxpayer’s return, because it is a composite of all of the income reported by members of a taxpayer’s household — information that may not be readily accessible to the IRS.”

Or me. Again, the concept of “household income” absolutely turns the former relationship between me and the IRS. My info was the IRS’s info – they’d look at it, see if I did all the right things, if I paid the right amount of tax,and would let me know if they had decided if I was right or if they were right. But it was just me and just them – a singly based relationship.

No more:

Obamacare – Unleash the IRS!

September 26, 2018July 3, 2012 Skip

(H/T: cartoon from Lucianne)

Well, does Nancy P. remind you of the Wicked Witch? Well, now that Obamacare has been judged constitutional, we all are going to be meeting up real closer now with our friendly neighborhood IRS dudes (reformatted and emphasis mine):

The IRS now gets to know about a small business’s:

entire payroll
the level of their insurance coverage
Whether small businesses provide “affordable” coverage to workers as determined by Big Govt.
A “shared responsibility requirement” fines up to $2,000 per worker after the 50th person if insurance is deemed inadequate (which means you may have to tell your employer a lot of personal / family info you never had to before

It gets to know information about you and your family:

the income of the primary breadwinner in your house
and your entire family’s income
Determining whether individuals buy “adequate” health coverage
Insurance plan information, including who is covered under the plan and the dates of coverage
The costs of your family’s health insurance plans
Whether a taxpayer had an offer of employer-sponsored health insurance;
The cost of employer-sponsored insurance
Whether you have received a premium tax credit
Whether you have an exemption from the individual responsibility requirement.
Whether or not you are subject to the Mandate / Tax penalty is based not on your income, but your household income.

The IRS gets:
Read more

Here’s the “Obamacare – I won’t raise your taxes” Tax over which Mr. Obama will send Mr. IRS to chat with you

September 26, 2018June 28, 2012 Skip

“Under my plan, no one who makes less than $200,000, you will not see an increase in your taxes”

– President Obama

Here’s the financial penalty TAX box future that Mr. IRS will be showing you if you decide that buy healthcare insurance is not in your future. You may try the latter but you certainly will be paying the former:

(H/T: Patheos)

I will have to say that for a Party that is ALL about the Progressive Income Tax, this chart, created by them, shows how regressive and repressivethe Obamacare TAX is. Those earning over $100,000 can afford the lawyer / account to help defend them if need be. You think that the $30K wage earner can do the same? The penalty is $173.75 per month – for a lot of lower income folks, that’s a car payment. No doubt about it – this tax will result in lower overall economic activity. And if that lower income bracket dude’s company decides it is cheaper for them to drop insurance altogether, the premium will be even more.

Let’s see – do I buy that new Obama Prius that’s been vetted by the EPA and the Fed D.O.T.? Or do I make Mr. IRS go away by paying this new TAX? What’s the economic good to me to have to just throw my money away in the latter case?

It’s Time for the IRS to visit the NHCAA

September 26, 2018June 20, 2012 Steve MacDonald

I just mentioned this, about Shaheen asking the IRS to go after 501(c) (4) groups, and look what falls into my lap.

Historically, the IRS has stayed out of politically charged battles over campaign spending. But lately the agency appears to be giving nonprofits a closer look. IRS rules permit 501(c)(4) social welfare groups to engage in politics, but not if it’s their “primary purpose.”

An Exempt Organizations Division work plan for fiscal 2011 outlines a new project examining the activities of 501(c)(4) groups. A recent IRS move to strip a nonprofit known as Emerge America and its local affiliates of their tax-exempt status has alarmed some in the nonprofit sector. The agency’s explanation to the group, which helps elect Democratic female candidates, hints that overly partisan organizations may not pass the “primary purpose” test.

I think the IRS is being used to harass legitimate non-profit activities, but…I also think that Sarah Warner’s New Hampshire Citizens Alliance for Action PAC fails to pass the smell test. They have only ever advocated for Carol Shea-Porter for Congress making it their primary political purpose. Based on his article they are in violation of the law.

Anyone out there interested in bringing this to the IRS’ attention? (Please?)

US Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D): all too willing to use the fear of the IRS to stifle TEA Party opposition? How Orwellian of her…

September 26, 2018February 28, 2012 Skip

“…those who cannot be co-opted are isolated and then destroyed.“

I had seen mention of the use of IRS going against TEA Parties (Richmond TEA Party, Ohio Liberty Council, it seems that others are in process) over at The TaxProf’s blog (via Instapundit, much more here at The Daily Caller on what the IRS is demanding for information), but loyal reader Steven sent this link along from Big Government. Nice to see my US Senator Jeanne Shaheen all too willing to use the coercive force of Bigger Government (the IRS!) to silence her opposition! This proves the phrase that I have been using: “The Bigger the Government, the smaller the citizen”. We already have seen that Shaheen has no problem in using the force of the Federal Government:

Will Jeanne Shaheen Send The IRS After the NHCAA?

September 26, 2018February 28, 2012 Steve MacDonald

The NHCAA is the New Hampshire Citizens Alliance for Action. They are a 501 (c)(4), and the political-action arm of the New Hampshire Citizen Alliance (NHCA). The NHCA is a 501(c)(3) and the local chapter of USA Action which, if it was in a vat and you scooped some out, it would provide you with a frothing cup of primordial progressive/socialist poison.

I point this out {the 501 (c)(4) part at least} because according to a letter signed by New Hampshire’s own Senator Shaheen, sent to the Internal Revenue Service, several Democrat Senators have expressed a concern about whether 501(c)(4) groups are engaging in any campaign activity which (according to the Senators) is expressly prohibited by their 501 (c)(4) status.

Carol…On Helping Small Business

September 26, 2018July 13, 2010 Steve MacDonald

Even as a child, Carol could not keep the train on the tracks

Carol’s good work keeps on rolling in like the smell of low tide on a salty breeze. Maybe you recall that five ream masterpiece of brevity appropriately mislabeled as health care reform? Well it came fully equipped with a manifold of other disasters buried inside, one of which was that anyone with business income will have to issue a 1099 for every entity with whom they spend $600.00 or more in goods and services in a calendar year. And you thought the Health care Castration Bill wasted paper?

This creates several problems for small business the biggest of which is the regulatory burden of having to deal with all that extra paperwork. It will take more time and cost more money just to comply with the rules ‘deemed’ by Section 9006 of Carol-Care. That amounts to millions more dollars in lost productivity on left wing busy work that Carol and her ilk have now released from America’s employment engine and diverted into the ice-rimmed, bottomless, suck-hole of the bureaucracy.

So how does that play against Carol’s rhetoric? Not well.