The IRS is facing new scrutiny over taxes that should have been paid for out-of-town travel made by its agents. These accusations have arisen from a Treasury Inspector General report, and have caused new fury amongst those who feel that the IRS already has too much power and shady behavior amongst its top executives.
Those like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio are speaking out against the apparent corruption.
“Here were the top people doing what no other citizen can do,” Jordan told Fox News. “You underreport income, you don’t pay your taxes, you can’t get away with it. And yet the very people who run the IRS were doing just that.”
To the IRS, however, the report is nothing other than business as usual. They issued a statement saying,
“Cutting costs is a top priority, and the IRS has put in place a number of steps to reduce expenses involving executive travel. The IRS agreed with (the Inspector General report’s) recommendations and has put in place new steps to prevent future issues in this area.”
As the troubled agency deals with the fresh investigations into its practices, they continue to ready themselves to implement and enforce Obamacare.
“That’s going to be a very daunting moment for them, let alone the enforcement mechanisms, so that’s going to be… navigating that is going to be very delicate for the service. Particularly of the fact that this law is so, well, it’s so controversial,” said former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson.
Some are not so confident in the abilities of the IRS to handle the new strain along with old baggage, as Jim Jordan stated,
“Now they’re going to have a greater role in ObamaCare? With a website that’s not secure and all the problems we’ve already seen with this, with this legislation? Certainly doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the minds of taxpayers and citizens across the country.”
Time will tell if the IRS can handle the pressures of the new healthcare codes and enforcement as well as the old burden of questionable acts.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
