FactCheck.org: IRS Will Not Need to Hire 16,500 New Agents to Enforce ObamaCare

From FactCheck.org via Tax Prof:

Q: Will the IRS hire 16,500 new agents to enforce the health care law?

A: No. The law requires the IRS mostly to hand out tax credits, not collect penalties. The claim of 16,500 new agents stems from a partisan analysis based on guesswork and false assumptions, and compounded by outright misrepresentation. ...

The IRS’ first task is to inform many small-business owners of a new tax credit that the new law grants them — starting this year — which will pay up to 35 percent of the employer’s contribution toward their workers’ health insurance. And in 2014, the IRS will also be administering additional subsidies — in the form of refundable tax credits — to help millions of low- and middle-income individuals buy health insurance.

The law does make individuals subject to a tax, starting in 2014, if they fail to obtain health insurance coverage. But IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman testified before a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee March 25 that the IRS won’t be auditing individuals to certify that they have obtained health insurance. He said insurance companies will issue forms certifying that individuals have coverage that meets the federal mandate, similar to a form that lenders use to verify the amount of interest someone has paid on their home mortgage. "We expect to get a simple form, that we won’t look behind, that says this person has acceptable health coverage," Shulman said. "So there’s not going to be any discussions about health coverage with an IRS employee." In any case, the bill signed into law (on page 131) specifically prohibits the IRS from using the liens and levies commonly used to collect money owed by delinquent taxpayers, and rules out any criminal penalties for individuals who refuse to pay the tax or those who don’t obtain coverage. That doesn’t leave a lot for IRS enforcers to do.

Honestly, this is a lot speculation surrounding the new health care bill, there are many questions that are simply unable to be answered until some of the provisions of the new law actually begin to play out. It is great to check out the source of the information before you buy 100 percent in to the information. The bottom line is: although, they did not ask for this job, the IRS will act as enforcer of this bill so if you are not able to report to them that you are in compliance with the specifics of this law, you will face tax penalties.

IRS Investigates Flurry of Threats Against its Workers and Facilities

According to the Washington Post, the number of threats being made against Internal Revenue Service employees has been rapidly climbing since the incident last month when a plane flew into an IRS office. The pilot and one IRS employee died in the crash, and since then the IRS has investigated more then 70 reported instances of a threats being made by taxpayers to IRS workers.

Workers have received a mix of inappropriate verbal comments -- including jokes or statements of support for pilot A. Joseph Stack -- and more serious threats, claimed National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen M. Kelley.

Kelley said she learned of the threats from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which tracks threats against IRS workers. Neither TIGTA nor the IRS would confirm the number of threats or share details of the probe.

"TIGTA is actively and aggressively investigating all threats made against IRS employees, infrastructure and property," said J. Russell George, the treasury inspector general for tax administration. His office and the IRS have instructed workers to report threats immediately. "It would be a little naive to think that we don't get some threats over the course of doing business," said IRS Communications Director Terry Lemons.

Attacks and threats against IRS workers and facilities are nothing new and are not confined to the annual spring tax filing season, Lemons said. People have rammed cars into offices as well as set them on fire. And some people have taken out hits on agency employees, he said.

Exclusive: IRS Hires "Hundreds" for New Wealth Unit

Following the IRS’s recent announcement regarding the creation of a new wealthy tax cheats unit, they have reportedly already hired hundreds of employees to join the new division. The group is expected to use their skills to identify rich and famous tax cheats who have the ability to hide their money in complex tax shelters. You can find a section of a Reuters.com article discussing the new IRS unit below.

The IRS high wealth unit, part of a broader effort to combat international tax evasion, is focusing on "the entire web of business entities controlled by a high wealth individual," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman told a tax conference this week.

Another IRS official told Reuters "hundreds" of people have already been hired to staff the new unit, including some from within the agency.

"We have drawn top talent within the IRS that have expertise involving wealthy individuals as well as examination of their related entities," said Mae Lew, an IRS special counsel.

The high-wealth unit is focusing on trusts, real estate investments, privately held companies and other business entities controlled by rich individuals.

While use of sophisticated legal structures can be legal, in other instances they "mask aggressive tax strategies," Shulman said.

Tax authorities in Japan, Germany and the UK have also created similar units.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a $387 million boost for the IRS for the fiscal year that started October 1, in part to fund the high-wealth unit. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure on Sunday.