IRS steals millions from people for depositing the wrong amount of money
Theft by government: IRS has confiscated $43 million from more than 600 innocent individuals merely because they did large cash transactions just under $10K.
The law in question forbids people from purposely breaking up deposits so that they are under $10,000 in order to avoid reporting the deposit to the government, and was originally written to target drug dealers. Instead, the government has been using it as a convenient way to steal people’s money.
After issuing a Freedom of Information Act request to the IRS, the Institute for Justice found 618 cases from 2007 to 2013 where the IRS seized funds without evidence of underlying criminal wrongdoing. When the Institute for Justice requested more information about these cases, the IRS said the group would have to pay a quarter million dollar fee because the request fell into the category of “commercial use.”
According to [Robert Johnson, lawyer for one individual whose bank account was seized], the IRS is still harassing small business owners because of their bank deposits despite the 2015 rule change [that supposedly required evidence of criminal activity before confiscation]. “Shockingly, when the IRS engages in such tactics, it can use the money that it takes to pad its own budget,” Johnson said. “When the IRS uses civil forfeiture to take money for structuring violations, the money is deposited in the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. In other words, the money that the IRS takes from hardworking Americans can be put back to work to seize money from additional Americans,” he said.
Read it all. The IRS has admitted that the individuals from whom they seized this money had committed no crime. Yet they still refuse to return the money.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Theft by government: IRS has confiscated $43 million from more than 600 innocent individuals merely because they did large cash transactions just under $10K.
The law in question forbids people from purposely breaking up deposits so that they are under $10,000 in order to avoid reporting the deposit to the government, and was originally written to target drug dealers. Instead, the government has been using it as a convenient way to steal people’s money.
After issuing a Freedom of Information Act request to the IRS, the Institute for Justice found 618 cases from 2007 to 2013 where the IRS seized funds without evidence of underlying criminal wrongdoing. When the Institute for Justice requested more information about these cases, the IRS said the group would have to pay a quarter million dollar fee because the request fell into the category of “commercial use.”
According to [Robert Johnson, lawyer for one individual whose bank account was seized], the IRS is still harassing small business owners because of their bank deposits despite the 2015 rule change [that supposedly required evidence of criminal activity before confiscation]. “Shockingly, when the IRS engages in such tactics, it can use the money that it takes to pad its own budget,” Johnson said. “When the IRS uses civil forfeiture to take money for structuring violations, the money is deposited in the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. In other words, the money that the IRS takes from hardworking Americans can be put back to work to seize money from additional Americans,” he said.
Read it all. The IRS has admitted that the individuals from whom they seized this money had committed no crime. Yet they still refuse to return the money.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Do you think Trump will end this egregious abuse of power? I know Hitlary will not.
Jamie: I have no idea whether Trump will end the federal government’s abuse of power. His past record suggests he won’t. His recent campaign suggests he might. What I hope is that if there are enough conservatives elected to Congress, and Trump is surrounded by conservatives as well within his administration, the focus will be to stop the abuses. But even here, we have no guarantees. And it is essential as voters that we be aware of this. We cannot let our passions blind us to the weaknesses of any candidate, even the one we support.
Related:
I heard this story on the John Bachelor Show last night, it was the segment just before R. Zimmerman’s Behind The Black segment. Its the story of a publicly traded company called Vascular Solutions.
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2016/02/26/vascular-solutions-ceo-root-found-not-guilty-in.html
Criminally charged by the Justice Department for “off labeled use” of a minor product that they produce.
5 years.
120 lawyers
Cost?
25 million dollars
Result, CEO found not guilty on all counts by a jury.
Compensation? $O.OO
Lesson? There is a government shake down of industry and individuals system in operation in our country. Very similar to the confiscation of assets when not even charged like in the structuring example and when cash, cars and other assets are taken without even charges or a verdict.
Don’t have the link handy but I recall Mr. Z noted the Vascular Solution “case” a few months ago.
As Cotour notes– it is very similar to what the IRS is doing, but via a different element of the Administrative State.
Before the Patriot Act reinforced & expanded this type of stuff, it was the nebulous War on Drugs that got everything going at warp-speed. Far too many people acquiesced in the seizing of drug-dealing money.
–tangentially– in Colorado the weed-shops are having a massive problem handling their cash-deposits into the Federally regulated Banking System. Weed remains a Federally prohibited substance & any Bank handling weed-money is subject to being shaken down & dragged into an Administrative Court.
(Dodd-Frank as well, created an entirely new Banking Regulatory apparatus, which is not funded by Congress & requires super-majorities in the House/Senate to alter. Trump couldn’t touch this, if he wanted to.)
That’s a very good point about weed shops and the banking system.
Q: How the hell are they dealing with all of that cash without being able to deposit it?
The states have created an exclusively cash business model? A big accounting and secure storage problem.
Cotour:
Ref Colorado: excuse, wasn’t entirely clear–
–They had to find cooperative Banks. It’s not impossible to deposit their cash, but it was a huge hassle early on & “technically” it’s all subject to being seized at any time.
This is a prime example of the Federal Government have undo control over purely State issues.
–Tangentially– last year, the Feds were trying to target gun-shops by putting pressure on banks which served their accounts.