Free Republic

Taxpayers could be losing up to $6000 of they don't apply for a certain tax credit, Channel 9's Steve Barrett reported. Volunteers from Heart of Florida United Way's (HFUW) "Financially Fit" are going door to door to some homes in Central Florida to make sure taxpayers are aware of the Earned Income Tax Credit. The group said it is also making sure low-income taxpayers know that they qualify for free tax assistance. "It's around $6,000 that they can get for the Earned Income Tax Credit. It's based on your income and the number of people in your household. Then, getting...

I consistently state our government is too big and it cannot handle all the responsibilities it continues to take on itself. President Obama has stated we, the American citizens, keep asking the federal government to do more. Even if you believed that, he could Just Say No. After you read this you will understand why. My friend Steve received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It stated that the five-figure amount of money he had overpaid on his 2014 tax return and had asked to be applied to his 2015 return was being confiscated for child support payments...

The Internal Revenue Service may still be unfairly targeting conservative organizations for audit due to flaws within their interior controls, Americans for Tax Reform reported Wednesday.

A federal judge on Tuesday certified a class action lawsuit against the IRS for its political targeting, advancing the cause of more than 200 tea party groups who said they were denied their First Amendment rights by the tax agency's actions. Edward Greim, one of the lawyers advancing the tea party groups' case, said the certification is a major step because it means the judge has agreed that the IRS did systematically target more than 200 groups for special scrutiny.

The ACLJ has secured an important victory in our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case against the IRS on behalf of Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire. After a year of litigation, which followed over four months of waiting for the IRS to respond to its FOIA request, we finally succeeded in compelling the IRS to comply with its obligations under federal law. As we have previously written, Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire issued a FOIA request to the IRS in June 2014 seeking communications between two New Hampshire legislators and certain IRS officials, including Lois Lerner, the IRS's...

Ted Cruz New Year Message 2016! Via Fox News. Two minute YouTube video.

A bill introduced by two House Republicans earlier this month would force tax preparers to undergo continuous training and pass costly, restrictive licensing exams. According to a report from The Daily Signal, Reps. Diane Black and Pat Meehan presented the bill as a way to fight tax fraud and other criminal activity.

Under a new enforcement provision passed into law earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service can revoke passports of serious tax offenders who owe more than $50,000 to the government. And Uncle Sam can take away your passport at any time, even when the offender is traveling outside the country. [...] The new passport-revoking provision allows the Department of the Treasury and the IRS to authorize the State Department to take away U.S. passports from individuals with seriously delinquent debts, which the government defines as greater than $50,000, the Arizona Republic reported. ...

Retiring abroad may sound idyllic. But those who fall short on financial planning can pay a big price. For the 380,000 retirees who live abroad, according to the Social Security Administration—up from 307,000 in 2008—the potential missteps are numerous. Amid a U.S. crackdown on money laundering, tax evasion and non-compliance with tax-reporting obligations, some expats are being cut off by their banks and brokerage firms. Others are running afoul of the Internal Revenue Service. Many are discovering that tax treaties don't always fully protect them from double taxation. "People rarely understand the complexity of cross-border moves," says Jonathan Lachowitz, founder...

On this year's tax returns, filers must deal with several tricky new rules and paperwork requirements stemming from ObamaCare. You'll have to start dealing with the tax implications of the health insurance program as soon as new ObamaCare documents reach you, swirling in the blizzard of IRS forms that you receive, starting in January. The key paperwork that you'll be looking for is a Form 1094-B from your insurer or a Form 1095-C from your employer. Those verify that you had the health insurance required by ObamaCare, known formally as the Affordable Care Act. If that or Medicare was the...

Below is the link to an interesting article by Capital Research Center that dissects the seedy world of a left-wing attack blog called “Media Matters” and its attempt to portray itself as a neutral media watchdog. The question is why some in the media use Media Matters, with all its well-known false information and implications, as if it is a neutral or legitimate source.  Do they not know better? Or do they know better but simply like the material? The author of the article asks another question:“This raises the obvious question: Why is this disreputable 501(c)(3) nonprofit [Media Matters] still tax-exempt?...

Link only due to copyright.

An Obama administration proposal to have some nonprofit charities report the Social Security numbers of donors giving at least $250 in one year is raising concerns about security, government overreach and another episode of IRS targeting. “There´s a big caution here. There´s a big yellow light that should be flashing for a couple of reasons,” Illinois Republican Rep. Peter Roskam tells Fox News. “Number one, the IRS has not demonstrated its capacity to hold this type of information from confidentiality and a security point of view.” The change would impact organizations that fall into the 501 (c)(3) category, which includes

Contending that its ability to adequately monitor, measure and police tax-deductible donations is greatly hampered by insufficient data, the IRS is demanding that all organizations receiving such donations obtain donors' Social Security numbers and forward this information to the IRS. "It's bad enough that the law allows a person to reduce the amount of tax he pays to us by deducting charitable contributions," Commissioner John Koskinen lamented. "What's worse is that the task of verifying the amount and legitimacy of these donations is tedious and time-consuming. Having all donors' Social Security numbers supplied by the receiving organization would substantially ease...

Immigration is once again threatening to jam up congressional action, this time on tax legislation. Conservatives' concerns about benefits flowing to illegal immigrants are a major sticking point in negotiations over the package of tax breaks known as "extenders." Congressional negotiators last week were working toward a deal to reauthorize, and in some cases expand or make permanent, a grab bag of dozens of expired and expiring tax provisions worth almost $1 trillion on a 10-year basis. Most of the tax provisions affect businesses, but President Obama and congressional Democrats have long insisted that tax breaks for low and middle-income...

Do you really believe there will be a significant simplification of the U.S. tax code under any not-so-freely elected government? Determining the length of a book is a simple matter . . . just open the back cover and look at the last page for the answer. Not so with the U.S. tax code, apparently. Google the question, “How many pages in the tax code?” Many answers appear. It could be as many as 75,000 pages, or just a few percentage points of that number, depending on who is answering the question and the motive for obtaining your acceptance of...

Full title - "The IRS Wants Organizations to Collect Donors’ Social Security Numbers. This Tea Party Group Is Fighting Back." A Tea Party organization is mobilizing its supporters nationwide in an attempt to stymie a proposed regulation from the Internal Revenue Service regarding the disclosures of donor information. Tea Party Patriots is launching an email and social media campaign—using #IRSPowerGrab—today, encouraging supporters and conservative leaders nationwide to push back against a rule proposed by the Internal Revenue Service that would give nonprofits the option to collect the Social Security numbers of donors who contribute $250 or more to an organization....

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." ~ Benjamin Franklin ::Separating the Wheat from the Chaff:: By: Larry Walker, II ::Each 2016 GOP presidential candidate has proposed to reform the tax code. While seven have offered legitimate proposals, five have advanced theories, which are basically maniacal. Those proposing to abolish, or end, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may be classified as crackpots, because, let's face it, that's never ever going to happen. With taxes of such fundamental concern, it's difficult to take anything else these kooks say seriously. Unless such candidates are willing...

The IRS recently proposed a rule to weaken the effectiveness of non-profits. Under this proposal, the IRS would give 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, which includes charities, religious groups, and educational foundations, the option to collect the social security numbers of donors giving more than $250 so that they can be sent to the IRS. While optional at the moment, it is obvious that the rule is simply a way for the IRS to transition to mandatory collection of social security numbers. This rule should frighten all Americans because it opens up a whole pandora’s box of security concerns. Additionally, the IRS...

The government may start stripping passports from delinquent taxpayers. Can that really be done? The Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act is likely about to become law. It has passed both the House and the Senate, and, while the conference committee could make changes, it's expected to pass on to President Obama largely intact. Buried in this massive bill is Section 32101, “Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Unpaid Taxes,” which would grant the State Department authority to deny, revoke or limit the passports of any taxpayer certified by the IRS to owe more than $50,000 in...