Tag: Trump IRS

IRS, taxpayers face obstacles ahead of July 15 filing deadline

The Hill logoThe IRS and taxpayers face a number of obstacles before crossing the finish line in this year’s longer-than-usual tax filing season.

The coronavirus prompted the IRS in March to extend the deadline for individuals to file their 2019 returns, and pay their 2019 taxes, from April 15 to July 15. In addition to processing returns during that time, the agency also had to implement COVID-19 relief measures passed by Congress in the spring.

The virus also caused the IRS in March to direct most of its employees to work remotely, bringing a halt to key agency functions that cannot be performed remotely. As it started to bring employees back to their worksites in recent weeks, workers faced a backlog of tax returns to process and taxpayers to assist. Continue reading.

Confusion reigns as IRS starts issuing coronavirus payments

The Hill logoThe rollout of coronavirus relief payments has been clouded by confusion for the millions of Americans struggling to understand why they haven’t received their money.

The IRS last week sent out more than 80 million payments to people via direct deposit. But tens of millions more are still waiting for their funds, and they have questions.

Tax policy experts said it’s understandable for those people to be upset. Continue reading.

IRS shutdown plan fails to quell worries

The IRS’s new contingency plan to deal with the shutdown has failed to quell concerns from Democratic lawmakers and tax professionals about the upcoming tax-filing season.

The Treasury Department’s updated shutdown plan for the IRS released Tuesday provides for 46,000 employees, or 57.4 percent of the agency’s workforce, to be working during the tax-filing season. It also confirms that the IRS will issue refunds during the shutdown.

But the plan didn’t answer all of the questions that lawmakers and tax experts have, and there are lingering doubts about how effective the IRS will be at doing its job while its employees are working without pay due to the funding lapse.

View the complete January 17 article by Naomi Jagoda on The Hill website here.

IRS Ruling on Political Donation Reporting Sets Off Campaign Finance Fight

The following article by Niels Lesniewski was posted on the Roll Call website July 17, 2018:

McConnell cheers, but Democrats blast decision, arguing it reduces transparency

Sen. Majority Leader McConnell praised the new IRS policy in a Tuesday speech. Credit: Bill Clark, CQ Roll Call, file photo

Monday’s announcement by the Treasury Department that it will no longer collect information about donors to some political nonprofits was met with applause from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, perhaps the leading advocate for unrestricted campaign donations. At the same time, it ignited a campaign finance fight with the midterm elections less than four months away.

“It’s bad enough to wield government power to chill political speech and invite harassment of citizens — based on what an angry mob might assume their opinions are, based on their private financial records,” the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor Monday. “It’s even more egregious to pursue that nakedly political goal while calling it ‘good government.’ In this country, good government means protecting citizens’ First Amendment rights to participate in the competition of ideas — not trying to shut down that competition.”

For McConnell, campaign spending is key to his expansive interpretation of the First Amendment. Senate Democrats, led by Finance ranking member Ron Wyden of Oregon, criticized the announcement.

View the following article on the Roll Call site here.

IRS chief says Trump’s budget would sharply cut taxpayer service

The following article by Joe Davidson was posted on the Washington Post website June 1, 2018:

David Kautter, acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, testifies in February before the Senate Finance Committee about President Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal. Credit: Susan Walsh AP

For many years under the Obama administration, Republicans controlling Congress punished the Internal Revenue Service with budget cuts that resulted in horrible service for taxpayers.

Although some service was restored, the Trump administration now plans service cuts so severe that about 40 percent of calls from taxpayers seeking telephone assistance would go unanswered. Continue reading “IRS chief says Trump’s budget would sharply cut taxpayer service”