Congress limits IRS power to seize accounts

Congress Passes Bill to Protect Small-Business Owners from IRS Seizures - Institute for Justice - Nick Sibilla:

June 14, 2019 - "Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved legislation that stops the Internal Revenue Service from raiding the bank accounts of small-business owners. The Clyde-Hirsch-Sowers RESPECT Act, passed as part of the Taxpayer First Act (H.R. 3151), is named after Institute for Justice clients Jeff Hirsch and Randy Sowers, two victims of the IRS’s aggressive seizures for so-called 'structuring.' Through structuring laws, the IRS has routinely confiscated cash from ordinary Americans simply because they frequently deposited or withdrew cash in amounts under $10,000. And by using civil forfeiture, the IRS can keep that money without ever filing criminal charges.

"The RESPECT Act was originally introduced by Reps. John Lewis (D-GA) and Doug Collins (R-GA) after Jeff and Randy testified before the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee about their experiences: Jeff had over $400,000 seized from his convenience store distribution business on Long Island while Randy, a Maryland dairy farmer, lost $29,500 to the IRS. Neither man was ever charged with a crime. Both Jeff and Randy ultimately recovered their wrongfully taken money, but only after years of legal proceedings and high-profile media coverage....

"The Taxpayer First Act previously passed the House by voice vote on June 10. It now heads to President Donald Trump for signature.

"To rein in the IRS’ civil-forfeiture power, the Clyde-Hirsch-Sowers RESPECT Act would:

• Limit forfeiture for currency 'structuring' only when the funds in question are derived from an illegal source or used to conceal illegal activity. This would codify an IRS policy change from October 2014 prompted by lawsuits from the Institute for Justice and would prevent the agency from backtracking;
• Allow property owners to challenge a seizure at a prompt, post-seizure hearing. Previously, property owners targeted for structuring had to wait months or even years to present their case to a judge.....

"'The Clyde-Hirsch-Sowers RESPECT Act is an important first step to address one type of forfeiture abuse by one federal agency,' [Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Darpana] Sheth noted. 'But civil forfeitures by other agencies continue unabated. With today’s vote revealing a broad consensus, Congress should seize the opportunity to pass comprehensive reform of federal forfeiture laws and protect the constitutional rights of all Americans'....

"Forfeiture reform is the rare political issue that transcends party lines. The national platforms for both the Democratic and Republican Parties have endorsed forfeiture reform, as have the editorial boards for over 135 different newspapers. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state civil forfeiture cases are bound by the Eighth Amendment’s ban on 'excessive fines.' And in the past five years, 33 states and the District of Columbia have enacted forfeiture reforms."

Read more: https://ij.org/press-release/congress-passes-bill-to-protect-small-business-owners-from-irs-seizures/

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Institute sues for info on gov't-seized property

IJ Sues IRS, Other Gov't Agencies For Forfeiture Records | The Daily Caller - Kathryn Watson:

December 9, 2016 - "A nonprofit public interest law firm is suing the IRS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for withholding records of cars, cash and property seized by authorities under federal forfeiture statutes.

"The Institute for Justice [IJ] filed two lawsuits in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Thursday after both agencies denied requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for government forfeiture of database records for 21 months.

"'The lack of transparency surrounding forfeiture is deeply troubling, especially considering the vast power law enforcement has to take property from people without so much as charging them with a crime,' Lisa Knepper, IJ director of strategic research, said in a statement. 'The public ought to know how forfeiture is being used.'

"Forfeiture laws — which IJ and other critics deem unconstitutional — allow law enforcement agencies to seize cars, cash, and other property that may be involved in a crime, without charging the owner with a crime."

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/09/irs-border-patrol-sued-for-records-of-forfeited-cars-cash-and-property/
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Johnson would end National Security Agency, IRS

Libertarian Gary Johnson: I'd eliminate NSA, IRS if elected | TheHill - Tim Devaney:

June 6, 2016 - "Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson says he would abolish the National Security Agency (NSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other federal agencies if elected.

In an interview with The Hill on Monday, Johnson said he would sign an executive order as president eliminating the NSA, which sparked controversy with its domestic surveillance programs.

"The NSA is a complete executive order as it [was] under [President Harry] Truman,' Johnson said. 'We could turn those satellites on what is supposed to be the enemy. The fact that they’re pointed on us right now, doesn’t that cause everyone a bit of concern? It should. Look, there’s due process for spying, but due process is not blanket collection of all of our data.'

"Asked whether he could actually eliminate the NSA simply through executive order, Johnson responded: 'Apparently. I’m waiting for someone to prove me wrong. This is what I’ve been told.'

"Johnson also said he would eliminate the IRS and lower taxes. 'If I could wave a magic wand, we would eliminate income tax; we would eliminate corporate tax; we would abolish the IRS; and we could replace all of it with one federal consumption tax,' Johnson said. 'If we had zero corporate tax in this country, tens of millions of jobs would get created in this country'....

"Johnson also suggested he would eliminate numerous other federal agencies — including the Department of Commerce, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Department of Education — if presented with legislation to do so.....  'I’ll sign legislation to eliminate any federal agency that they present me with,' Johnson said. 'Any one'....

"Johnson said the Commerce Department fuels 'crony capitalism,' which he called 'all about giving those that have money more money, as opposed to leveling the playing field.'"

Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/282381-libertarian-gary-johnson-id-eliminate-nsa-irs-if-elected

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Should/can libertarians support Cruz? (2) Yes

The Libertarian Moment Lives With Ted Cruz | Liberty Conservatives - Remso W. Martinez:

February 7, 2016 - "There is [no] pretending that Ted Cruz is a libertarian, he is as conservative as they come, in the traditional sense.... Cruz never pretended to be something he wasn’t, he has much adoration for libertarians, and has stated time and time again that when certain challenges come about, there is a need for a coalition.

"Cruz has been consistent from the beginning, and has shown he shares more common ground with libertarians than virtually any other person in Washington. His record alone shows:

1. He is against senseless undeclared and unconstitutional wars and nation-building halfway around the world.
2. He championed and co-sponsored Audit the Fed, making it a central point in his plan for the new Senate majority.
3. He is pro gold standard.
4. He opposes the Patriot Act and opposed the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA, and authored an amendment to it requiring a DoD audit of bases, to identify waste and prioritize base expenditures in an effort to ‘reduce our overseas footprint’
5. He believes that the internet should be free and open.

"If nothing else, a simple look at his Five for Freedom plan should be convincing enough. In the preamble Cruz states 'During my first year, I will fight to abolish the IRS, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. To do that, I will press Congress relentlessly. And I will appoint heads of each of those agencies whose central charge will be to lead the effort to wind them down and determine whether any programs need to be preserved elsewhere because they fall within the proper purview of the federal government. I do not anticipate lists to be long.' The structure of the pan includes:

• Five for Freedom – abolish 4 unnecessary cabinet agencies and the IRS.
• 25 Federal “ABCs” – eliminate 25 Agencies, Bureaus, Commissions, and other programs.
• Grace Commission 2.0 – reinstitute President Reagan’s Panel on Cost Control (“The Grace Commission”) to identify waste and inefficiency.
• Congressional accountability – amend the Constitution to require Congress and the President to balance the budget, and enact the REINS Act.
• Federal hiring freeze and reform – institute a freeze on the hiring of federal civilian employees across the executive branch, and reform automatic worker raises.

"The opportunity to keep the Liberty Movement within the GOP is still alive thanks to Cruz, the last 'Yahoo for Uncle Milton' on stage who can break the Washington Cartel."

Read more: http://www.libertyconservatives.com/libertarian-moment-lives-ted-cruz/
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IRS spends $140M so far upgrading to Windows 7

Government watchdog blasts IRS for mismanaged migrations from Windows XP, Server 2003 | Computerworld - Gregg Keizer:

October 15, 2015 - "Government auditors have blasted the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for missing deadlines to upgrade Windows XP PCs and data center servers running Windows Server 2003, both of which have been retired by Microsoft.

"In a recently released report, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) criticized the IRS for spending nearly $140 million on upgrading Windows XP to Windows 7 even as it failed to meet the support cut-off of April 2014. At the deadline, over half of the IRS's PCs were still running XP.

"Nine months after Windows XP fell off Microsoft's support list, the agency still could not account for 1,300 PCs – about 1% of its total – and so couldn't say whether they had been purged of the ancient OS.

"On the server front, half of the IRS's Windows-powered servers were still running Windows Server 2003 in May, even though Microsoft would pull the support plug on that software two months later. At that time, the IRS still had not installed Windows Server 2012, the latest version, on any of its systems.

"The failure to upgrade its infrastructure to supported versions of Windows, said TIGTA, threatened taxpayers and tax collection. 'We believe that running workstations with outdated operating systems pose significant security risks to the IRS network and data, particularly in the environment where a chain is only as strong as its weakest link,' the TIGTA's report stated. 'External hackers or malicious insiders need to locate only the one computer with security weaknesses, such as one with an outdated operating system, to exploit in order to steal data or further compromise other computers.'

"That's not just theory. Earlier this year, the IRS admitted that hackers infiltrated its network and made off with personal information on more than 300,000 taxpayers."

Read more: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2993380/operating-systems/government-watchdog-blasts-irs-for-mismanaged-migrations-from-windows-xp-server-2003.html
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IRS violates policy, seizes $100K from store owner (video)

North Carolina Civil Forfeiture | Institute for Justice - IRS Seizes $107,000 From Innocent Small Business, Despite Recent Policy Changes Meant To Prevent Exactly This Kind Of Case:

"Lyndon McLellan has spent more than a decade running L&M Convenience Mart, a gas station, restaurant, and convenience store in rural Fairmont, North Carolina. Then, one year ago, without any warning, agents from the IRS seized his entire bank account, totalling more than $107,000. With that, Lyndon entered the upside down world of civil forfeiture, where the government can seize and keep ordinary Americans’ property without ever charging them with a crime.

"The IRS and Department of Justice are pursuing forfeiture of Lyndon’s money despite a recent policy change designed to prevent precisely these kinds of cases. In October 2014, the IRS announced that (absent 'exceptional' circumstances) it would pursue forfeiture in cases like Lyndon’s only where there was evidence that the money being seized was derived from illegal activity. The U.S. Department of Justice announced a similar policy change in March 2015....

"Under these new policies, the government should not be pursuing forfeiture of Lyndon’s bank account. But the government has refused to back down, and is actively pursuing the forfeiture of Lyndon’s money.

"Lyndon is unwilling to give the government a single penny of his hard-earned money. As he puts it, 'It took me 13 years to save that much money, and it took fewer than 13 seconds for the government to take it away.'"
Read more: http://ij.org/r/north-carolina-civil-forfeiture/
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Gary Johnson calls for eliminating IRS

Libertarian Gary Johnson calls for eliminating IRS | The Daily News Journal | dnj.com - Scott Broden:

March 15, 2014 - "The country should eliminate all income, corporate and payroll taxes and replace them with a consumption tax, Libertarian Party 2012 presidential nominee Gary Johnson told an audience today.

"'I believe that our lives would be changed for the better,' Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, said during his keynote address before the Libertarian Party of Tennessee State Convention....

"When it comes to the consumption tax, Johnson said he’d like to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and told the audience that he agrees with the current proposed Fair Tax as a way to get started. The process would include getting rid of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution that allows income taxes and replacing them with a Fair Tax that would act like a 28 percent tax on all sales.

"The idea is revenue neutral, so there would still be a need to cut spending, said Johnson, noting that 165 members of Congress support the Fair Tax.

"The country should balance its budgets as a top priority and reform Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, Johnson said."

Read more: http://www.dnj.com/article/20140315/NEWS05/303150019/Libertarian-Gary-Johnson-calls-eliminating-IRS?nclick_check=1

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Gary Johnson: 'This Independence Day feels different'

Libertarian Gary Johnson: 'this Independence Day feels different' - Washington Times - Jennifer Thompson:

"Former Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson ... is not delivering the typical feel-good Fourth of July message this year.

"'This Independence Day feels a little different,' he says. 'The news in recent weeks about the IRS using its force against certain targeted groups has reminded us that, absent vigilance on our part, the government will abuse the power it has accumulated. Likewise, as we learn more about the massive surveillance being conducted by the NSA and the FBI, a lot of Americans are today thinking and talking about the 4th Amendment and its intended protections against unreasonable searches....

"'These "revelations" are bringing long-overdue attention to the liberties the Founding Fathers worked so hard and sacrificed so much to provide and protect. It is more than a little ironic that the Revolution was prompted, in part, by abusive tax policies and unreasonable searches - on the part of ‘tyrants’.'"

"Mr. Johnson is ... chairman of Our America Initiative, a grassroots group centered on smaller government and a frugal mindset. His fellow board members include Barry Goldwater Jr., former independent presidential hopeful Buddy Roemer and Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2013/jul/3/libertarian-gary-johnson-independence-day-feels-di/#ixzz2Y7E5edI8
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IRS targeted groups "educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights"

Michael Gerson: IRS abuses bring out the libertarian in each of us | Deseret News:

May 14, 2013 - "For years, tea party and patriot groups have breathlessly alleged that federal bureaucrats were conspiring against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Then federal bureaucrats conspired to target conservative groups because their tax documents contained the words 'tea party' or 'patriot,' and because they were 'educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.'

As the scandal has unfolded, the IRS has shown characteristic forthrightness and transparency. In March 2012, the then-commissioner of the IRS, Doug Shulman, assured a congressional committee: 'There's absolutely no targeting.' But senior officials at the agency, according to a leaked IRS inspector general report, were briefed about the targeting as early as the summer of 2011. Now the agency has backtracked to this position: 'IRS senior leadership was not aware of this level of specific details at the time of the March 2012 hearing.' It will probably take many further congressional hearings to explore the considerable gap between 'absolutely no targeting' and 'not aware of this level of specific details.'"

Read more: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765629522/IRS-abuses-bring-out-the-libertarian-in-each-of-us.html
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