The IRS doesn’t exactly have the
best reputation. From their unfair (and illegal) targeting of Tea Party
non-profits, to their overly burdensome and difficult tax laws they’re just not
a great entity to have to deal with.
But some people really get the rough
end of the stick, “including Ken Quran, who had his life savings taken
from him for the “crime” of making withdrawals from his bank in amounts the
federal government finds suspicious.” But now the IRS is being forced to return
all that money.
Details from an I.J.
press release today: Ken’s money was seized under
so-called “structuring” laws. These laws were designed to target criminals
evading bank-reporting requirements. But under IRS policy at the time of the
seizure, the IRS applied the structuring laws to seize cash from individuals
and businesses accused only of frequent under-$10,000 cash transactions.
The IRS changed its policies in
October 2014 to prevent such seizures. But those changes came too late for
people like Ken, whose property was seized before the policy change.
So, in July 2015, the Institute for
Justice submitted a petition to the IRS on Ken’s behalf, arguing that the IRS
should apply its policy retroactively to Ken’s case. The petition argued that
the money “would not be seized—much less forfeited—under current government
policy” and urged the IRS to “do the right thing and give the money back.”
This week, IJ sent a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen following up on the
petitionand urging the IRS to act quickly to give Ken his money back.
Today’s letter states that Ken’s petition is granted “in full" according
to data obtained by the Institute for Justice from the IRS via the Freedom of
Information Act, the IRS forfeited about $43 million in 618 structuring cases
between 2007 and 2013 in which the IRS reported no suspicion of criminal
activity other than the mere fact of sub-$10,000 cash deposits.
Structuring is a legal form of theft
employed by the IRS. It’s quite similar to civil forfeiture used by corrupt
city governments to seize money from individuals.
The fact this decision was reversed
inspires hope and shows us, the average American, we have the power to reverse
the momentum of a wild and out of control government. There are numerous cases
in which these kinds of abuses aren’t overturned, and it’s quite scary. Are you
shocked the IRS lost in this way?
http://teapartyupdate.com/irs-seized-a-store-owners-life-savings-they-never-thought-theyd-then-have-to-do-this-with-it/
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