IRS: AMNESTIED ILLEGALS DON’T NEED TO HAVE FILED RETURNS TO ACCESS TAX CREDITS FOR ILLEGAL WORK

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Illegal immigrants granted executive amnesty can claim back tax credits for work they performed illegally, even if they never filed a tax return during those years, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has confirmed to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

In a written response to questions Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Koskinen following a February hearing on the IRS budget, the IRS commissioner clarified his earlier assertions that illegal immigrants granted executive amnesty — and Social Security numbers — can access Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) for years they were working in the country illegally.

Back in February, Koskinen said that in order to claim the tax credits the amnestied illegal immigrant would have had to have filed returns in the past.

In his written statement to Grassley, released Wednesday, Koskinen went another step, saying an illegal immigrant granted amnesty could claim back tax credits regardless if they had filed returns in the past.

“To clarify my earlier comments on EITC, not only can an individual amend a prior year return to claim EITC, but an individual who did not file a prior year return may file a return and claim EITC (subject to refund limitations under section 6511 of the Internal Revenue Code). I would note that filing new returns for prior years would likely be difficult, since filers would have to reconstruct earnings and other records for years when they were not able to work on the books,” Koskinen said in his written response.

According to the IRS, illegal immigrants granted amnesty, and with it Social Security numbers, can claim up to three years prior in back tax credits.

“Section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code requires an SSN on the return, but a taxpayer claiming the EITC is not required to have an SSN before the close of the year for which the EITC is claimed. At your request, the IRS has reviewed the relevant statutes and legislative history, and we believe that the 2000 Chief Counsel Advice (CCA) on this issue is correct,” Koskinen added.

With this benefit Illegal immigrants granted amnesty could receive tens of thousands of dollars in back tax refunds.

Via: Breitbart

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IRS hit by cyberattack, thousands of taxpayers’ information stolen

Thieves managed to steal information on more than 100,000 taxpayers from the IRS, Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday — though he insisted the breach didn’t affect most average taxpayers and the information they file in their annual returns.

Thousands of fraudulent returns were filed under the attack, and final details about the amount the criminals stole is not available, though Mr. Koskinen predicted it will be less than $50 million.

“This is not a security breach. Our basic information is secure,” Mr. Koskinen insisted in a call with reporters to discuss the theft, which he said came from online access by fraudsters, who he described as part of an organized crime syndicate.

The IRS is sending out notices to those they have determined were affected by the breach, and has opened a criminal investigation into the operation.

Mr. Koskinen said the fraudsters were exploiting a specific application, the Get Transcript program, to be able to dig up more information on taxpayers, including their full tax returns dating back five or more years.

The commissioner said they discovered the breach after noticing odd Internet activity from the tax filing season. They didn’t find the activity until the middle of this month, however, and have scrambled to get a handle on what happened.

Via: Washington TImes
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IRS Says It Spent $7.9 Million on Congressional Probes

The Internal Revenue Service claims it has cost nearly $8 million to answer congressional investigations into the extra scrutiny it gave conservative political groups before the 2012 election.

A letter from IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to House Democrats Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Sandy Levin of Michigan says 255 employees have spent 97,542 hours responding to the investigations, USA Today reports. 

Koskinen claimed the accounting was a "conservative approach" that did not include figures for some support staff, the press office, or congressional liaisons. 

The expenditures include $259,849 for travel, and staff time billed at more than $79 an hour for workers.

Levin and other House Democrats say the cost of the investigations shows Republicans are "fixated" on punishing the IRS, and Republicans are "wasting millions of dollars in an attempt to reignite their partisan inquiry before the November elections."

But Republicans say they want to disclose the whole story of how the IRS targeted certain organizations as the race to re-elect President Barack Obama neared.

"This committee is working to restore accountability and trust into this broken agency," said Sarah Swinehart, spokeswoman for House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich.

The Republican-controlled House is conducting two investigations, as is the Democratic-controlled Senate. In addition, a Treasury Department inspector general and the Department of Justice are investigating the IRS.

But the nearly $7.9 million in costs cited by Koskinen are just the beginning of the expenses the agency has absorbed since the 2012 scandal.

Via: Newsmax
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'OUTRAGEOUS': Senator rebukes IRS for reinstating 2013 employee bonuses

The IRS' announcement Monday that it will pay cancelled 2013 bonuses has infuriated Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who wants to know why an agency with employees who “inappropriately” targeted conservative political groups would reinstate the rewards.

“The IRS is accused of targeting conservative groups, with many of its employees having conducted themselves in a manner inappropriate for government officials, and the agency decides to reinstate employee bonuses?” asked Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “This is outrageous.”

The announcement was made by new IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, who said the performance bonuses were reinstated after agency employees repeatedly asked him about them during his first weeks on the job and after reaching a deal with the Union for Federal Employees.

The targeting scandal broke in spring 2013 when the agency revealed it had targeted for closer scrutiny Tea Party groups and other politically conservative organizations that were applying for tax-exempt status.

The revelations resulted in an inspector general report as well as FBI and congressional investigations. Though agency officials said originally the targeting was limited to a Cincinnati, Ohio field office, the probes revealed that higher-ranking officials at the agency’s Washington headquarters knew about the situation and that liberal groups also were targeted but to a lesser extent.

Via: Fox News

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