Irs Has A Bold, Brand New Power-Irs Can Get Your Passport Cancelled

[Jollygoodfellow]

Do you owe taxes? 

 

 

The IRS has a bold, brand new power. It can take away your passport

 

Here’s a fact from the last month of the year that I bet you didn’t even know. Our government has made a major change to the way it aims to collect taxes.

 

Buried, no submerged deep in the transportation bill passed by Congress in December was a bold, brand new power given to the IRS. If you have a federal tax debt amounting to $50,000 or more, starting this month, the IRS can get your passport cancelled by sending a message to the State Department to do so. And guess what?  That $50,000 includes penalties and interest.

 

Yes, people should pay our government what they owe, especially if they want to leave the country. But given the mistakes the IRS has already made in wrongfully emptying bank accounts and seizing assets, does anyone really think it’s okay for unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats to seize passports? That they should have the power to block a basic freedom – the freedom of movement?

 

The new IRS law can be a big pain in the neck, since the federal government is also moving to enact a new identification card to supplant state identification (which is  usually a drivers’ license). That means in the interim is that travelers could be forced to use their passports at the airport check-in counter even for domestic travel.

 

The new law, entitled “Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies,” could mean that taxpayers will even be rejected for passports when they try to renew them.  

 

The new IRS powers mean that, now more than ever, taxpayers are being walled in. Americans have renouncing their U.S. citizenship in record numbers, with some analysts arguing that many taxpayers are doing so because of the long reach of the U.S. tax man.

 

The Joint Committee on Taxation says the IRS’s new passport powers are expected to raise $398 million over 10 years (see here). Currently, there are an estimated seven million U.S. citizens living abroad. People who live overseas often use their passports to check into hotels or open bank accounts, among other things.

 

Does anyone think the IRS’s execution of its new passport revocation power will be state of the art?

 

Meanwhile, the IRS has been seizing bank accounts from small businesses if the entrepreneur is making a series of small bank deposits, as it seeks to collect on an estimated $450 billion in unpaid taxes.

 

Moreover, the IRS has seized bank accounts of small businesses without any warning, much less a warrant. That happened in August 2013 to Carole Hinders, owner of a Mexican restaurant in Arnolds Park in northwest Iowa. Hinders said the IRS seized about $33,000 from her checking account. Even though she was never accused of committing a crime, the IRS was suspicious because she made frequent small deposits. The IRS can seize accounts even though no charges have been filed, much less convictions won.

 

As with the Hinders’ case, the problem with the new passport revocation law is that the IRS can simply cancel your passport merely by alleging that you owe them money. It doesn’t have to get a judge’s okay or even a court review to do so. In most cases, a passport will be rescinded if a lien has been filed.  It also doesn’t give taxpayers the chance to fight the IRS’s decision in court before their passports are yanked, because the IRS operates on a “guilty until proven innocent” mode.

 

So it’s breathtakingly mindless for the White House and Congress to give the IRS even more powers, given that the agency has been caught in political audits of conservative groups and has made numerous errors in cracking down on taxpayers.

 

For example, just last September, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, a federal watchdog unit, raised the red flag for potential errors in the IRS’s enforcement of taxpayers who live overseas.

 

The inspector general said that “planned improvements have not been made to manage and track correspondence with international taxpayers.” It found that the IRS issued 855,000 notices to U.S. citizens living overseas in 2014. However, the watchdog noted that “IRS data systems aren’t designed to accommodate the different styles of international addresses, which can cause notices to be undeliverable.”

 

It warned that “current IRS processes for addressing international mail issues are ineffective or nonexistent.”

 

 

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/01/06/irs-has-bold-brand-new-power-it-can-take-away-your-passport.html?intcmp=hplnws

[mogo51]

'big brother' at it again, this is the ultimate abuse of power,

But good old Oz is not to be outdone.  My friend has been struggling to survive in business for a number of years and due a failure of an accountant to lodge his return, he entered into an agreement with them to pay money owed.

He was in the motor trade and I gave him a care of mine to sell.  He sold it and without his approval, Tax Office took the money that did not belong to him ie. mine.

He cant repay me as he is really struggling from week to week, he will pay when he can I know that for sure, but when is another question - this is 'stealing'

[Crocodile]

So it’s breathtakingly mindless for the White House and Congress to give the IRS even more powers, given that the agency has been caught in political audits of conservative groups and has made numerous errors in cracking down on taxpayers.

 

Given what I have read about civil forfeiture in the USA, I am not surprised by this.

Here is more on civil forfeiture: http://endforfeiture.com/

[Mike S]

Hummmmm .... pretty soon the US Government will be right in line with these guys ..... if they aren't already .........

[scott h]

Don't know who wrote this, but here is a pro tip..........PAY YOUR DAMN TAXES!!! :hystery:  And you wont have a problem

 

If you have a federal tax debt amounting to $50,000 or more, starting this month, the IRS can get your passport cancelled by sending a message to the State Department to do so.

[Larry45]

As a US citizen, I don't have a problem with this law....and it's a little weird that non-Americans would.  There are many circumstances where a passport can be denied or revoked, but typically it's due to a criminal case of some sort.  Last I checked, tax fraud was a crime, and I also don't see the problem with keeping a lease on someone that owes you money.  Is it really any different than renting an XRM here and being asked to leave your passport?  Would you return to the rental company without bike and demand your passport back, citing it's a violation of your rights to seize your passport for money owed?  And let's be practical about this...if you're working with the IRS on installments and making an effort, they aren't gonna revoke your passport. There are some checks and balances in the system.

[GregZ]

I think the point is the WRONG seizures that occur. No court case, no notice, no knowledge by the supposed but innocent offender. Who will protect him? The IRS notified me of owed taxes once. Guess what, I didn't owe. So are they just going to cancel my passport if I am abroad and their mail doesn't find me? Why bother to notify me? Just cancel my passport and I'll call them? Really!

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[scott h]

The IRS notified me of owed taxes once. Guess what, I didn't owe

 

I understand Greg, and commensurate. Did the problem get fixed though? Been there done that, was it a hassle? Oh you bet. Was any lasting harm done? Not that I remember, but boy was I pissed at the time. Are mistakes made? I am sure there are. Having said that, if there wasn't a HUGE problem about delinquent taxes, there would not be a need for these draconian measures.

 

Omelet and Eggs IMHO

[Larry45]

I think the point is the WRONG seizures that occur. No court case, no notice, no knowledge by the supposed but innocent offender. Who will protect him? The IRS notified me of owed taxes once. Guess what, I didn't owe. So are they just going to cancel my passport if I am abroad and their mail doesn't find me? Why bother to notify me? Just cancel my passport and I'll call them? Really!

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Hopefully there's a clear protocol in place to prevent any passport seizures that are unwarranted. Much like debtors won't have their wages garnished until after a certain period of time and documented efforts to work out a payment plan by the lender.  But as Scott said, tax fraud is a huge issue and many debtors are simply running out on their responsibilities, leaving the rest of us holding the bag.  I agree there are risks and a chance for wrong seizures, but I believe it's in the best interests of all honest US citizens to crack down on the deadbeat taxpayers.  Having said that, I think I will file my taxes early this year   :lol:   

[GregZ]

Then let's just let every government office do what they want to do without court, or anybody else's knowledge or consent. After all it is only in our best interest to have political groups targeted, etc. Like the IRS already does. Just don't register as a Republican or Independent and you'll probably okay.

I'll shut up now and crawl under a rock where I am safe from liberals.

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