Free Republic

This actually falls under the "you won't believe this" section, but I felt it was worth sharing.

An employee at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) who was involved in targeting conservative groups during the Obama administration is now leading the same IRS division, according to a new memo from the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Robert Choi served as the director of the IRS’s Tax-Exempt Organizations Rulings and Agreements division in 2010, when the agency began applying heightened scrutiny to organizations associated with the Tea Party movement seeking tax-exempt status, the AAF found. Despite this history, Choi was reportedly recently promoted to acting commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government...

Thomas Jefferson High School has been subjected to left-wing education policies and is uniquely situated to display how destructive those policies are.Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) in Fairfax County, Virginia, became something of a household name in recent years, with a challenge to an allegedly racially discriminatory admissions scheme nearly reaching the U.S. Supreme Court and the school essentially selling proprietary education information to the Chinese. Despite the high court refusing to take the slam-dunk affirmative action case, the school is now being investigated from multiple angles by the Trump administration.In the past two weeks, the...

In a surprise move, the Republican-led Senate quickly passed the "No Tax on Tips Act" on Tuesday, giving its official stamp of approval to an idea that has gained traction since President Donald Trump campaigned on it in 2024. The legislation would create a new tax deduction worth up to $25,000 for tips, limited to cash tips that that workers report to employers for withholding purposes on payroll taxes. The tax break is also restricted to employees who earn earn $160,000 or less in 2025, an amount that will rise with inflation in upcoming years. The bill now goes to...

Tax bods characterize it more as a brainstorming session, says Elon's unit wasn't involvedCongressional Democrats are again demanding answers from a federal agency over whether DOGE's latest tech makeover could put taxpayer data at risk. The latest please-explain-this-DOGE-activity letter letter [PDF] landed yesterday on the desk of the Internal Revenue Service's acting inspector general, Heather Hill. It is from Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and perennial DOGE gadfly. This time, Connolly is demanding answers about a 30-day "hackathon" reportedly launched last month by DOGE staffers embedded at the IRS, in...

The Trump administration scored a major victory on Monday after a federal judge ruled that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can share its database with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help locate and identify alleged illegal migrants. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich sided with the Trump administration in a lawsuit brought by the immigrant-rights group Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, by declining to issue an injunction to block the two government agencies from partnering on illegal immigration. Friedrich ruled that the partnership, which allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to submit names of illegal migrants to the IRS,...

A federal judge won’t block a controversial Trump administration initiative to share highly sensitive taxpayer information with federal immigration authorities in hopes of tracking down undocumented immigrants and quickly deporting them out of the country. District Judge Dabney Friedrich on Monday rejected arguments from several immigrant-rights groups, that claimed the data-sharing agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated taxpayer confidentiality laws. The decision is a victory for President Donald Trump and his immigration agenda. Trump administration officials argued that greater cooperation between the IRS and ICE will protect Americans by kicking out potentially dangerous immigrants...

Hunter Biden abruptly dropped his lawsuit Wednesday against two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers who alleged a wide-ranging cover-up in the Department of Justice to stonewall the tax fraud investigation into him. The Biden scion had slapped a lawsuit against the two whistleblowers in 2023, alleging that they “targeted and sought to embarrass Mr. Biden via public statements to the media in which they and their representatives disclosed confidential information about a private citizen’s tax matters.” Without detailing a specific reason why, the scandal-scarred 55-year-old voluntarily moved to dismiss his lawsuit against Gary Shapley, who was an IRS supervisory special agent...

President Donald Trump said Sunday that his tariff policy will substantially reduce, even completely eliminate, income taxes for some American workers. “When Tariffs cut in, many people’s Income Taxes will be substantially reduced, maybe even completely eliminated,” Trump wrote in a 6:06 a.m. post on Truth Social. “Focus will be on people making less than $200,000 a year.” Trump continued, “Also, massive numbers of jobs are already being created, with new plants and factories currently being built or planned. It will be a BONANZA FOR AMERICA!!! THE EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IS HAPPENING!!!

Why should the Internal Revenue Service have enough trained manpower, guns, and ammo to equip nine or ten infantry battalions? Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has revealed that employees of the Internal Revenue Service owe about $50 million in back taxes. The problem extends far beyond the IRS: In Fiscal Year 2021, the IRS found that 149,000 federal employees owed about $1.5 billion in unpaid taxes. Let’s bear that in mind while looking at the amount of firepower the IRS can deploy. In 2020, they had 2,100 “special agents,” who carry firearms and are fully trained to use them. These are...

Miracles occurred – prayers were answered. On Wednesday, The Gateway Pundit shared this article from JoeHoft.com about how an Obama Judge denied Nevada Judge Michele Fiore a new trial. Fiori was targeted because of her actions during the Bundy Ranch Standoff years ago. On Thursday, Judge Fiore was pardoned by President Trump after he reportedly read this article. Here is Judge Fiore's pardon: Judge Fiore shared the following message: PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM JUDGE MICHELE FIORE “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” — Isaiah 54:17 Today, I stand before you — not just as a free woman, but as a...

The acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was replaced Friday, only three days after assuming the role, as his appointment triggered a power struggle between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Elon Musk of the Department of Government Efficiency, the New York Times reported. Gary Shapley was replaced after Bessent complained to President Donald Trump that Musk circumvented Bessent’s office to secure the position for Shapley, the NYT reported. The outlet cited people who said they were familiar with the situation. Shapley was a longstanding IRS agent who accused the Biden administration’s Department of Justice of dragging out its...

Tax season can be a bit stressful for many Americans, but for those with unfiled returns or back taxes, the stress levels can be overwhelming. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is one of the most powerful collection agencies in the country and it has considerable power to pursue any unpaid taxes you owe. The agency also has a long memory when it comes to collecting what it's owed. That said, the IRS can't come after you for your old tax debts indefinitely. Most debts have statutes of limitations that eventually render them uncollectible — and the same is true for...

JONESBORO, Ga. — The U.S. Department of Justice said a Jonesboro man with a made up story is facing real consequences after trying to get tax refunds for businesses he didn’t own. According to USDOJ, Christopher Dowtin, 48, was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service on federal charges for allegedly “fraudulently convert[ing] two businesses’ IRS accounts to his name and address.”Doing so, he got a tax refund check for more than $32 million.Charging documents say Dowtin submitted fraudulent IRS forms claiming to be the responsible party for two companies.In December, the IRS processed eight change of address or responsible party...

Employees at the Internal Revenue Service only had to show up to work in person once a week before President Trump took over and canned federal telework policies, The Post has learned. Under the IRS’ most recent collective bargaining agreement brokered between the agency and its union last October, employees were eligible to telework up to eight days per biweekly pay period. IRS officials had raised concerns that the generous telework policy would “impede on the agency’s ability to serve its client, the IRS, and taxpayers” and adversely impact worker performance. They cited their experiences during the pandemic, when remote...

President Trump has replaced the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service after his appointment just days earlier set off a power struggle between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the billionaire Elon Musk, five people with knowledge of the change said Friday. Mr. Bessent’s deputy, Michael Faulkender, will be the new acting leader, replacing Gary Shapley, the Treasury Department confirmed on Friday. Mr. Faulkender will be the third acting leader of the agency this week. Mr. Bessent had complained to Mr. Trump this week that Mr. Musk had done an end run around him to get Mr. Shapley installed as...

The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its demands to change its hiring and other practices. A final decision on rescinding the university’s tax exemption is expected soon, the sources said. The administration already has blocked more than $2 billion in funding from the nation’s oldest university, which is fighting the White House’s policy demands, citing the constitutional right of private...

Like millions of American citizens and immigrants, Ivan filed his taxes last year. But Ivan, 54, a Massachusetts resident who hails from Colombia, is worried a recent agreement between the IRS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement means he is in danger of being deported for doing what he believed was the right thing. And if taxpayers like Ivan decide not to file taxes because the IRS has said it will share certain tax information filed by undocumented immigrants with ICE, it could cumulatively eliminate billions in tax revenue and create “a massive problem” for citizens and immigrants alike, experts said....

In the United States, Tuesday, April 15 was the deadline for filing federal, state and local income tax returns. Some Americans owed money by April 15, while others are expecting refunds. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is processing millions of federal tax returns. But according to Politico reporters Sophia Cai and Benjamin Guggenheim, the IRS may have a greatly reduced workforce in the future. And Politico's reporting is receiving a lot of discussion on X, formerly Twitter. Cai and Guggenheim, in a mid-April article, explain, "The IRS could see a mass exodus of up to 40 percent of its workforce...

The IRS supervisor made famous for speaking out about alleged political influence in the Hunter Biden tax investigation has been sworn in as the agency's acting commissioner, CBS News has confirmed. Gary Shapley took an unusual path to the top IRS job. He was a supervisory special agent leading dozens of staff, in his 14th year at the agency, when he came forward in a 2023 interview with CBS News chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod. Shapley revealed internal misgivings about what he described as improper pressure to go easy on the president's son. Shapley was the first of two IRS...