tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519969502186924526.post8817690659122200009..comments2023-10-24T08:00:53.865-05:00Comments on Federal Tax Crimes: Article on Bank Leumi Depositors Pre-Cleared in Error (5/3/13)Jack Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469823736335455874noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519969502186924526.post-75096355333335912332013-05-09T10:58:30.267-05:002013-05-09T10:58:30.267-05:00I would expect the lawyers representing any of the...I would expect the lawyers representing any of these cases in which the governemnt tried to obtain more than the flat 27.5% penalty to argue that the clients entered the program and supplied information in good faith and that the higher penalty should not apply. (Whether they would be successful is another matter.) On the other hand there might be quite a few who were in the gray area who would not have opted out but the IRS' forced opt out results them in getting a lower penalty.<br />But the bigger issue is that by not living to its mistakes regarding 50 disclosures, the IRS is scaring away 500, 5,000 or maybe even 50,000 others from disclosing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519969502186924526.post-38060136787317023012013-05-03T16:06:20.647-05:002013-05-03T16:06:20.647-05:00Why is it so hard for the IRS to do the right thin...Why is it so hard for the IRS to do the right thing? Jemkin's suggestion is so reasonable, and yet, when it comes to doing what the reasonable man would do, they fail. They continue to ignore Nina Olson's suggestions for the OVDP in MSP 8 of her most recent Report to Congress http://1.usa.gov/VRJVsc<br /><br /><br />It is a sad commentary on the organization who has time and time again, seemed to take the wrong route for encouraging voluntary compliance. This story in Yahoo News also made that point on another of the IRS Big Data efforts....<br /><br />IRS Data Web Snares Mostly Low- and Middle-Income Taxpayers<br /><br />http://news.yahoo.com/irs-data-snares-mostly-low-middle-income-taxpayers-171310646.html<br /><br />"tax experts who have worked closely with the IRS suggest that its intent seems to be a "gotcha" strategy aimed at trapping tax cheats rather than deterring bad behavior and encouraging compliance."Just_Me_Alsonoreply@blogger.com