Bipartisan legislation that would place new limits on when the Internal Revenue Service is permitted to seize money in taxpayer bank accounts got approval in the House Ways and Means Committee this week.
For years, the IRS and Department of Justice have worked together to steal thousands of dollars from American taxpayers accused of cheating the system by “structuring” bank transactions to skirt financial reporting regulations. Originally touted as an anti-terror measure, financial institutions are required to report to the government any customer transactions exceeding $10,000.
The government’s penchant for stealing Americans rightfully-earned money under the program is something we’ve covered in the past.
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IRS wrongfully seized millions of dollars from innocent Americans
A review of the government theft released earlier this year revealed that the bureaucrats running the scam had a pretty abysmal record of identifying instances where actual criminal activity occurred.
According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGA), IRS officials were wrong about 90 percent of the time.
“Most people impacted by the program did not appear to be criminal enterprises engaged in other alleged illegal activity,” TIGTA said in a statement. “The report also concludes that the rights of some individuals and businesses were compromised in these investigations.”
No doubt.
TIGA added: “In most instances, interviews with the property owners were conducted after the seizure to determine the reason for the pattern of banking transactions and if the property owner had knowledge of the banking law and had intent to structure.”
The IRS has given back around 80 percent of the money it wrongfully took from innocent Americans, but not before making many of their lives a living hell.
The legislation now making its way through the House would require IRS agents to prove that criminal activity is occurring before seizing funds. It would also fortify the government review process in an attempt to make it easier for wrongfully accused Americans to get their money back.