The IRS doesn’t “allow” anything. They collect taxes. Fraud CAN result in criminal charges, but we don’t put people in prison for making bad decisions in terms of what bills to pay off first.
This simply adds the effective denial of a basic human right - the freedom to travel - as an additional penalty on top of their other woes.
Lets say you got into this mess because you had a famnily medical crisis, or some other emergency. The $$ went to that, you had every intent to pay taxes later, but then the economy took a dip, your business cratered.
Now you have tax liens, etc. (I don’t know if this applies if one gets a repayment plan and stays current - the law & the IRS is actually very good in allowing people to do that).
Back to the “what if” plot line - now you get word that one of your aged parents in another country is on his/her last legs - and your own government prevents you from going to say your farewells because you didn’t pay your taxes.
Seems like quite an unjust “punishment”, doesn’t it? Denial of a basic fundamental right for something that there already are OTHER laws (tax laws) that give the government redress.
If your aged parents are still back in that other country, you should be deported for breaking the law in ours...
If you owe our gov more in taxes than a regular American citizen makes gross in a year, you need to go to prison...
Didya really think I was gonna cry for you Argentina err Skippy ???
BTW when my aged parents in another country were dying, I dint get to go back and say Goodbye either...
and I paid all the taxes I owed...unlike your scenario tax dodging losers I just didn’t make enough to pay for plane tickets ...