#irs

#irs

Preparing and submitting individual income tax returns costs taxpayers more than $91 billion a year, nearly half of which represents the opportunity cost of lost hours spent on tax compliance.

Bessent stuttered, then said, when pushed: "It would come from Treasury.... The Treasury General Account," referring to the account that tax payments flow into that the government uses for payments and other purposes. "So, taxpayers," Gallego said. "Yes," Bessent answered. "Part of the 440,000 taxpayers whose returns were leaked. "They're not suing," the senator clarified, adding, "If the president prevails in this lawsuit, he's going to be able to pocket that money."

One agency immediately stands out: the Internal Revenue Service. In January 2025, the IRS hired 1,313 people. Over the next two months the agency laid off 11,000 workers, or about 11% of its workforce. And it hired zero people in February and March. What happened at the IRS amidst the DOGE-slashing effort that swept through the federal government is an extreme case of how Musk and his wrecking crew gutted agencies. The IRS did not respond to a request for comment.

Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration has been preparing sweeping changes to the IRS which would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily. A senior IRS official involved in the effort has drawn up a list of potential targets that includes major Democratic donors, the Journal said, with sources claiming that the administration intended to install allies of the president in the agency's criminal investigation division.

Federal income tax brackets and the standard deduction are about to look a little bit different in the US. The Internal Revenue Service announced changes to the tax code on Thursday, driven by both inflation adjustments and President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly is set to increase to $32,200, a $700 increase from the $31,500 deduction this year.

Shutshow: A day after President Trump claimed the federal government may withhold back pay from furloughed federal employees, the IRS sent furloughed employees a notice saying that a 2019 law-which Trump signed-guarantees that they'll be made whole after a shutdown. One employee notes the document may come in handy should a court case ensue. ( Government Executive) The IRS has halted most of its operations after coasting a few days on funds it received in 2022. ( Federal News Network)

The federal government has been trying to rid itself of paper checks and reap the cost benefits of electronic payments for years. "Electronic payments such as direct deposit are safer than checks, allow quicker access to funds, and have less risk of fraud," Fiscal Service Chief Disbursing Officer Linda Chero has said previously. "With paper checks over 16 times more likely to get lost, stolen, altered, or delayed, we encourage those still receiving paper checks to make the switch today."

From the minute Trump announced Billy Long as his IRS pick it was obvious this would end badly, but every Senate Republican voted to confirm his nomination anyway. He didn't even last two months on the job.

IRS Special Agent Stephan George's testimony established that almost 149,000 USDT was sent from Hanfeng Lin's account, eventually flowing through Tornado Cash, using specific blockchain tracing methods.

Churches can now openly involve themselves in elections, but in doing so, they risk becoming de facto political organizations.

"This action is not about religion or free speech, but about radically altering campaign finance laws."

The I.R.S. said on Monday that churches and other houses of worship can endorse political candidates to their congregations, carving out an exemption in a decades-old ban on political activity by tax-exempt nonprofits.

Given the historical context, and decades of subsequent agency promises to protect taxpayer confidentiality and taxpayer reliance on those promises, the Administration's abrupt decision to re-interpret §6103 to allow sharing with ICE whenever a potential 'criminal proceeding' can be posited, is a textbook example of an arbitrary and capricious action even if the statute can be read to be ambiguous.

In recent courtroom decisions, judges expressed frustration with the constant reference to Moore's Federal Practice, suggesting it should not be a primary resource for legal staff. The expectation is for professionals to rely more on precedent and case law rather than textbooks.

Elected officials expressed strong concern regarding the deplorable office conditions faced by IRS employees, citing overcrowded spaces, insufficient supplies, and safety hazards from exposed wires.

The IRS recently clarified that victims of certain online scams can claim a theft loss deduction, addressing prior complexities with capital losses related to cryptocurrencies.

The IRS is relying on ID.me's own assessments of its solutions' performance, compromising independent verification of the identity proofing it requires for online applications.