Apparently IRS Employees Owe $50 Million in Back Taxes and Senator Ernst is Outraged

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Going Concern News Desk

illustration of hands shaking money out of man in suit

It seems IRS employees owe almost $50 million in overdue taxes and somehow this news slipped right past us. One person who did not miss the memo is Joni Ernst, the Republican senator from Iowa who we assume has no relation to Ernsts Alwin C. and Theodore though we suppose it’s a possibility given the proximity of Iowa to Ohio. Anyway, this is what her office released on Monday:

After an explosive report showed thousands of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees owe nearly $50 million in overdue taxes, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) blasted IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel for a complete lack of accountability and introduced the Audit the IRS Act, requiring annual audits of agency employees and the termination of every IRS agent who isn’t paying their taxes.

Beyond the widespread tax evasion, the Department of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)’s audit, conducted at the request of Senator Joni Ernst, is full of jaw-dropping pieces of information about the agency, including that it knowingly rehired individuals who committed criminal and sexual misconduct.

“The spirit of 1776 is still alive and well with a tax revolt happening right now at the most unlikely of places in Washington, the IRS,” said Ernst. “While the IRS warns, ‘tax evasion is a serious crime punishable by imprisonment, fines, and the imposition of civil penalties,’ the agency is rewarding its own tax dodgers with paychecks and lavish benefits made possible, ironically, with the taxes paid by law-abiding citizens. My legislation will create a zero-tolerance policy for tax evasion and misconduct while ensuring these IRS bureaucrats are no longer allowed to live by one set of rules and enforce another on honest, hardworking Americans.”

Hold up, lavish benefits? At the Internal Revenue Service? Citation needed.

Her strongly worded letter to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel is below and the text of her bill here.

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Ernst Exposes Massive Tax Evasion at IRS, Demands an Audit of the Auditors [Senator Joni Ernst, R-IA]

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One Man’s Holiday Wish List Includes Tim Geithner and Charlie Rangel Sharing a Prison Cell with Wesley Snipes

Caleb Newquist
December 4, 2010

Actually, if Wes Benedict, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party, had his way, Wes wouldn’t be doing time at all.

“The three-year federal prison sentence for Snipes’s failure to file tax returns is absurd. Snipes is not a threat to anyone, and the judge who sentenced him clearly just wanted to scare others who might think about resisting federal taxes.

“Maybe it’s worth reminding people that Wesley Snipes was acquitted of tax fraud and conspiracy charges in 2008. He was only found guilty on misdemeanor charges of ‘willful failure to file an income tax return.’

Right, so the ‘willful failure’ part is where we kind of have a problem. If you willfully fail to control your urge to get cop-slugging drunk and then actually slug a cop, you have committed a crime. Mr Benedict doesn’t buy it though:

“Why is a failure to file a tax return a criminal non-act? Should people ever be sent to prison for not doing something? If the IRS wants to come after Snipes and take his money, they have power to do that. Who does it help to send the man to prison?

“The tax code is incredibly vague and open to interpretation [Ed note: UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY]. In fact, the ‘law’ is largely written by IRS bureaucrats. If they decide the law says one thing, you’re OK; if they decide it’s something else, then you’re headed for prison.

“The federal tax code also allows for ‘selective enforcement,’ to put it mildly. Why is it that Wesley Snipes gets a prison sentence, but known tax cheat Tim Geithner gets promoted to Secretary of the Treasury? Maybe Tim should be Wesley’s cellmate. Throw tax cheat politician Charlie Rangel in the slammer too for good measure.

Tim Geithner’s poor choice in self-prep tax software and an actor giving the 16th Amendment the middle finger for 10+ years aren’t quite the same thing. Maybe it’s just us.

[h/t Tracy Coenen]