The IRS just released its “dirty dozen” list of tax scams and schemes for the American people to avoid. In addition to normal phishing and identity theft, a slew of new phone scams around the nation has caught many taxpayers off guard. Plus, unscrupulous return preparers take advantage of confused Americans, especially given that 60 percent of taxpayers need assistance figuring out all those documents, tables, and exemptions. The list also warns the less honest among us to avoid hiding money offshore, in abusive tax shelters, or with false documents. Additionally, it urges people not to falsify income or claim too much in fuel tax credits, either.
But there is an even more concerning “dirty dozen” list that the IRS wants the public to forget.
It’s been almost two years since the news broke that the IRS had been targeting Tea Party, pro-Israel, and other conservative groups — and a scandal erupted. Here are just a select few ways the IRS has mismanaged its problems and shown itself to be incompetent and untrustworthy:
1. Internal emails show these groups were targeted because IRS employees thought them “icky.”
2. Other emails showed that Lois Lerner was conspiring with the Department of Justice to prosecute conservative groups on trumped-up charges.
3. Lerner herself refused to testify to investigating committees and was held in contempt.
4. That didn’t stop her from defending herself to Politico magazine and complaining about being “harassed” for her role.
5. Then, the IRS claimed it had lost the most crucial batch of Lerner’s emails.
6. Oh yeah, and her Blackberry was destroyed too.
