The IRS is reporting “IRS, Justice Department Note Increase in Tax Enforcement: Civil and Criminal Enforcement against Tax Cheats On the Rise.” According to the press release, in 2003 the IRS used civil injunctions to stop the following illegal tax schemes:
- Using an employee-leasing company to evade employment taxes;
- Using a ?warehouse bank? to commingle and conceal assets;
- Establishing a ?corporation sole? whereby customers ?donate? assets and income to a sham corporation, then fraudulently claim charitable donations;
- Using abusive trusts to shift assets out of a taxpayer?s name but retain control;
- Claiming personal housing and living expenses as business expenses;
- Claiming non-existent tax credits, such as reparations;
- Failing to withhold, report and pay payroll and income taxes;
- Filing tax returns reporting ?zero income?;
- Claiming that only income from foreign sources is taxable.
Also, this article from the WashingtonPost.com–“IRS, Justice Dept. Promise Vigilance in Tax Enforcement“–notes that, in addition to stepping up prosecutions and seeking a budget increase, the IRS is “[s]tudying a sample of 46,000 returns to upgrade its understanding of which taxpayers are more likely to cheat and how they go about it.”
Also, this from The Hill.com–“In Pig Book, lawmakers go hog wild“:
Amid cries from politicians of all stripes that too much or too little money went to tax cuts, education, the military and other priorities, Congress earmarked more pork-barrel spending in appropriations bills passed last year than ever before. . . CAGW notes that pork projects in the 13 spending bills passed in 2003 for spending this year exceeded previous levels in both number and cost.
From Forbes.com, “Dissidents to sue to get Disney voting results“:
Dissident Walt Disney Co. shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold said on Wednesday they would sue the company to get results for the March 3 shareholder vote on Chief Executive Michael Eisner’s reelection to the board. . . The company did not immediately comment on the latest letter from Roy Disney and Stanley Gold’s attorney accusing it of trying to “delay and obfuscate” the release of voting results, particularly the employees’ pension plan, which Disney and Gold see as a proxy for employee support of Eisner.” (View the letter here.)
From the WashingtonPost.com, “Rolling Out Automatic 401(k) Enrollments“:
In a guidance letter requested by J. Mark Iwry, a former Treasury official now associated with the Brookings Institution, the IRS says that employers may, if they wish, adopt plans that enroll new employees at an automatic contribution level higher than 3 percent. Or, they may begin with a modest rate that rises in regular increments for a period of time.