Posted on 04/06/2010 6:24:17 AM PDT by Joy in the Journey
A centerpiece of the new health care law calls on most Americans to buy health insurance by 2014 or start paying fines collected by the Internal Revenue Service. But IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said Monday that federal agents won't chase after people who don't pay up.
"These are not the kinds of things we send agents out about," he said. "These are things where you get a letter from us. Congress was very careful to make sure there was nothing too punitive in this bill."
In a speech at the National Press Club, Shulman noted that the new health care measure expressly bans the IRS from seizing assets or pursuing criminal charges against people who don't pay their fines. The agency could, however, garnishee people's future tax refunds as a form of payment, he said.
The new health care fines, which go into full effect in 2016, are attracting quite a bit of attention as states and others challenge the constitutionality of a federal mandate requiring Americans to carry health insurance.
Other detractors, however, criticize the penalties as too weak to be effective. The penalties for not carrying insurance could eventually amount to as much as $695 or 2.5% of a person's taxable income. That's far less than what annual insurance premiums could add up to.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
“Congress was very careful to make sure there was nothing too punitive in this bill”
Congress didn’t even read the bill.
One person says they will hunt us down. Another person says they won’t. I guess they’ll keep making the rules up as they go along, whatever fits their agenda and/or pocketbook.
ROTFLMAO!
They won’t be hunting you, YET...
Criminal penalties for non-payment were part of the original bill, until the outrage came out. How else do they expect to enforce the mandates???
then why do they need almost 17000 more irs agents that are included in the bill...??...
Alice in Wonderland. A word means what they want it to mean on the day they say it. Tomorrow is a new day.
Yeah, riiiiight
Why, they're only there to assist you with any questions you may have.
Nothing ‘too’ punitive.
Just a matter of withholding your tax refund among other things.
VS
IRS could tap refunds for health insurance penalties
Cognitive Dissonance.
It's what's for dinner.
Hunting people down is one of the few things the IRS does well.
“Trust me, I’m from the IRS”
Another example of liberals avoiding the reality
that every policy they want the government to implement
is implemented with the threat of deadly force if you don’t comply.
Whenever you are arguing something like this with a lib,
ask them if they are willing to have people killed for non-compliance.
The “sword” is always there, it just isn’t obvious at the beginning stages of enforcement.
We’re from the government and we’re here to help!
It’s in that other part of the bill that gives them the power to take the money up front, from your employer, your accounts and your wages. They don’t have to hunt you when the IRS takes all the money and redistributes the left overs. How hard is that to figure out.
I'm not sure what bothers me more, the lie, or the fact that this idiot thinks we're dumb enough to believe it.
They'd be better suited for hunting down ILLEGALS!
Effing Jack Booted Thugs!
They will not send agents if you don’t have insurance, they will just send letters.
Now, if you don’t do what they say in the letters, THEN they send the agents. Don’t you guys get it? :-)
This is just more proof that the reserves accumulaterd by the insurance companies to pay the legitimate claims of their bona fide premium paying customers will be expropriated to cover claims by Johnny-come-lately freeloaders with pre-existing conditions who’ve never before paid premiums.
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