Gary Shapley was replaced as acting commissioner of the IRS just 48 hours after his appointment, following concerns from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Shapley was appointed without President Trump's knowledge and possibly influenced by Elon Musk. Shapley, who succeeded Melanie Krause after her resignation, is expected to continue advising Secretary Bessent despite his brief tenure. The IRS leadership remains uncertain as President Trump's nominee, Billy Long, awaits Senate confirmation amid whistleblower allegations related to President Biden.
Posts tagged as “the Internal Revenue Service”
Melanie Krause, the acting commissioner of the IRS, is resigning due to a controversial decision to share immigrants' tax data with ICE, aimed at identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants, which has caused internal disagreement. This data-sharing initiative is part of a broader effort to modernize the IRS's IT systems and improve service delivery, but it has raised privacy concerns and potential negative impacts on immigrant communities. Krause's resignation highlights the challenges the IRS faces in balancing tax administration with immigration enforcement, amid scrutiny from privacy advocates and immigrant rights organizations.
Charles Edward Littlejohn, a former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service, has been charged with wrongfully disclosing tax return information, including that of former President Donald Trump, to two news outlets between 2018 and 2020. Littlejohn is facing charges of unauthorized disclosure of a suspicious financial transaction report and unauthorized inspection of returns or return information, and could face up to five years in prison if convicted. The Justice Department is continuing to investigate the case.
Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against two IRS agents, alleging that they have unlawfully shared his private tax information in violation of the law. The complaint claims that the agents have targeted and sought to embarrass him through public statements to the media, and seeks a court order to prevent further disclosure and damages for the alleged violations. The IRS has yet to comment on the lawsuit, and its implications for taxpayer privacy remain to be seen.
Two IRS agents testified before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, revealing that the Justice Department had stifled their investigation into tax crimes by Hunter Biden and pursued weaker charges than they had recommended. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) used her question time to display what appeared to be naked pictures of Hunter Biden, but other Republicans did not want to delve into the whistleblower allegations. The testimony of Shapley and Ziegler has raised questions about the Justice Department's handling of the investigation into Hunter Biden's taxes.
Key takeaways: U.S. Attorney David Weiss denied claims made by a whistleblower that he asked to be named a special counsel in an October meeting.…
A former IRS employee has testified to the House Ways and Means Committee that U.S. Attorney David Weiss sought authority to charge Hunter Biden with charges beyond the tax-related misdemeanors he agreed to plead guilty to this week. The whistleblower alleges that Attorney General Merrick Garland was not being truthful when he testified that Weiss had the authority to charge in other jurisdictions. Hunter Biden's plea deal with Weiss includes avoiding full prosecution on a separate gun possession charge. Questions have been raised about the Biden administration's handling of the investigation and whether Weiss had the authority to bring charges in other jurisdictions.
The IRS has announced that the 2022 tax filing season is going much more smoothly than the past three years, with 87% of calls being answered since January. The IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel noted that some people may have missed the deadline in 2020 due to the pandemic, and there are still unclaimed refunds from 2019. He also reminded people that some households, mostly low-income households, are not required to file a return.