Inspector General: 39% of IRS employees not reporting taxable income on long term travel allowances

American Thinker ^ | 02/18/2014 | Thomas Lifson

[SeekAndFind]

The mess at the IRS is worse than people realize, and a new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Internal Revenue Service's Executive Long-Term Taxable Travel, reveals widespread flouting of rules, and underreporting of income by senior IRS officials. Such a pattern and practice on the part of those charged with supervising (and prosecuting failure of taxpayers to comply with) tax law is a major scandal.

The Taxprof blog cites the relevant sections of the report:

Per the Internal Revenue Code [§ 162(a)(2)] and the Revenue Ruling 93-86, an employee who performs a temporary duty travel assignment exceeding one year at a single or principal location is subject to income taxation of his/her travel expense reimbursements. Compensation for services (including fees, commissions, fringe benefits, and similar items) are includible in gross income. Similarly, remuneration for services paid by the employer to an employee are wages subject to employment taxes, which generally include income tax withholding and the Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and FY 2012, there were 351 and 373 executives in the IRS, respectively. In FY 2011, the IRS executives received approximately $4.8 million in travel reimbursements. In FY 2012, executive travel reimbursements decreased to about $4.7 million. We analyzed travel information from the GovTrip and the Integrated Financial System for IRS executives to determine whether executive travel appeared to be long term and met the criteria of long-term taxable travel (LTTT) status. ...

[Travis McGee]

[PubliusMM]

While I don’t feel bad for the busted IRS employees, this is still more reason to drop the income tax model completely.
Those rules are ridiculous. The arbitrary notion that one year should have this kind of impact on a taxpayer is just stupid, arbitrary, and (IMO) capricious.
Dump the income tax in favor of a consumption tax, and a whole lot of things get better, very quickly.

[duffee]

Did the “offenders” receive their bonus?

[MrB]

An income tax is immoral in concept. It taxes the measure of your productivity.
A consumption tax is just that - a tax on what you take OUT of the system, not what you provide INTO the system.

Inherently more moral.

Of course, the biblical model for fair taxation is a simple head tax.

[SueRae]

J. Russell George. One good guy against the machine. God bless his stamina and keep him safe.

[JimRed]

"He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance."

King Barack the First...

[JimRed]

Of course, the biblical model for fair taxation is a simple head tax.

Under today's regime, if you can't pay the tax, off with your head!

[Carriage Hill]

“The most insidious power the media has, is the power to ignore.” - Chris Plante, WMAL

[Tuketu]

Agreed! The “Graduated” income tax structure can be traced to Karl Marx. The former Socialist Soviet Union, now Russia has a FLAT TAX. Seems they bypassed us on the tax angle. The French have not learned yet either and so some of their former citizens went to Russia. Knowing our Social DEMOCRATS, they will want a VAT for fighting “Carbon Footprints” to line Gore and friends pockets, keeping both tax systems in place.

BTW, I bet the IRS failed to include the income in the employees W-2 or a F1099. If the employees received the document and failed to include the income, they well may be fired (unless appointed by “O”.