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Federal prosecutors have dropped their criminal probe of fiscal irregularities and tax fraud by the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network. Lawyers for the civil rights activist said that means Sharpton's tax tangle won't result in an indictment or jail time, or even an appearance before a grand jury, though he's agreed to pay millions in back taxes. It also means the feds aren't pursuing allegations the civil rights leader extorted contributions from corporations in exchange for not protesting against them. Prosecutors would not comment, but law enforcement sources confirmed that the criminal probe is over. Bottom line:...

...The nearby chart shows that the top 1% of taxpayers, those who earn above $388,806, paid 40% of all income taxes in 2006, the highest share in at least 40 years. The top 10% in income, those earning more than $108,904, paid 71%. Barack Obama says he's going to cut taxes for those at the bottom, but that's also going to be a challenge because Americans with an income below the median paid a record low 2.9% of all income taxes, while the top 50% paid 97.1%. Perhaps he thinks half the country should pay all the taxes to support...

This is the first in a series of three articles on how your pockets are being shamelessly picked by government and big business. I bet you knew the IRS was robbing you. You just didn't know how much. Read on. Are you a middle-class retiree living here on our little sandbar with money in an IRA? The IRA is supposed to give you a break by allowing you to put money away tax-free, allow it to grow, and then tax you when you withdraw it. Sounds good, doesn't it? You're getting robbed. You're not the one benefitting by it as...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Wealthy Americans are hiding about 1.5 trillion dollars in overseas tax havens in a "deceptive" partnership with top foreign banks such as UBS, resulting in 100 billion dollars in lost US tax revenue, a congressional probe was told Thursday. The hearing centered on a 115-page report following investigations into alleged abuses by UBS in Switzerland and the smaller LGT Bank in Liechtenstein amid a widening international investigation into tax scandals involving the two banks. "The evidence we have been able to obtain breaks through some of the wall of secrecy to show that these two banks have...

Federal regulators should consider revoking the US banking license of the giant Swiss Bank UBS because of its role in helping wealthy Americans evade billions of dollars in taxes, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) told ABC News today. "I don't think that any bank that goes to the extent that UBS has gone through to avoid doing what their agreements with the United States require them to do, should be allowed to continue to do business unless they clean up their act," Levin said. UBS's role in arranging "undeclared" accounts for an estimated 19,000 US citizens was one focus of a...

Hundreds of super-rich American tax cheats have, in effect, turned themselves in to the IRS after a bank computer technician in the tiny European country of Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme. The bank clerk, Heinrich Kieber, has been branded a thief by the government of Liechtenstein for violating the country's bank secrecy laws. He is now in hiding but scheduled to testify to the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Thursday via a video statement from a secret location, according to Congressional investigators....

This is the first in a series of three articles on how your pockets are being shamelessly picked by government and big business.I bet you knew the IRS was robbing you. You just didn't know how much. Read on. Are you a middle-class retiree living here on our little sandbar with money in an IRA? The IRA is supposed to give you a break by allowing you to put money away tax-free, allow it to grow, and then tax you when you withdraw it. Sounds good, doesn't it? You're getting robbed. You're not the one benefitting by it as much...

<p>A DEFIANT Paul Hogan had a typically plain-spoken and blunt message for the Australian Taxation Office yesterday: "Come and get me, you miserable bastards."</p> <p>As the ATO enlisted the help of the Internal Revenue Service in the US to pursue the actor for allegedly undisclosed tax liabilities, a bemused Hogan insisted he had paid more than enough tax - a figure he estimated to be in excess of $100million - in Australia.</p>

IRS officials are asking people who plan on attending family get-togethers over the Fourth of July weekend to be on the lookout for relatives who received economic stimulus checks. "The July 4 holiday is a perfect opportunity to encourage family and friends to reach out to those who may not have heard about the stimulus payment," said Christopher Miller, IRS spokesman in Milwaukee. Miller said there are 77,000 disabled veterans and retired people in Wisconsin, including 4,242 in Dane County, who have not filed tax returns, a necessary step in getting a stimulus check. But many residents aren't required to...

The New York Times has broken the story that Bill Keller, founder of Liveprayer.com with over 2.4 million subscribers to his Daily Devotional and host of the Liveprayer TV program, is under investigation for possibly violating his tax exempt status in speaking out last year against former Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon beliefs. Keller, who was the first Christian leader to speak out nationally against Romney's beliefs coined the now infamous phrase, "A vote for Romney is a vote for Satan." Keller maintains that he has done nothing to violate his tax exemption status and says his attorneys are...

The IRS plans to raise the amount of automobile mileage that businesses are allowed to claim. The IRS made the addition to help assist businesses and charities struggling with high gas prices. Business vehicles will now be able to claim operating costs of 58.5 cents for the last six months in 2008--up from last year’s deduction level of 50.5 cents. In an interview with the Associated Press, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said, "Rising gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans. Given the increase in prices, the IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the...

Scroll down for updates… Ethics, schmethics. Despite the cloud over Countrywide pals Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad, the latest mortgage bailout boondoggle has cleared another congressional hurdle. The Senate voted 83-9 to move forward on Dodd’s housing aid bill. Final vote is scheduled for later today. We’ll see if the White House upholds its veto threat. Meanwhile, Politico asks Senate members to show them their loans. Check out the results here. http://www.politico.com/homeloans/ It’s so, so tough to be a U.S. Senator, isn’t it? http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTY3ODA3NmMwZGJjNjVkYTllNWE5ODE0MjAwMzJhNWY= Sniff. *** Update: Here’s the cloture motion roll call vote. Look who’s AWOL again… http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00155 ***...

Few Americans would invite an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, but that's exactly what Minnesota pastor Gus Booth wanted when he stood behind his pulpit and told his congregation God wanted them to vote Republican. In an election where candidates openly discuss their faith and are regularly seen in churches, and a time when pastors' sermons lead the politics sections of newspapers, one might be excused for not knowing that it is illegal for a church to endorse or oppose a candidate for president. But when Booth addressed the members of his Warroad Community Church one Sunday in May...

News Channel 3 has confirmed the Internal Revenue Service is after former Senator and current prisoner, John Ford. The IRS says Ford owes more than 220,000 in unpaid federal income taxes. The IRS would not comment on specifics but did say the taxes are from 2003, 2004 and 2005. Ford is currently in a federal prison on bribery charges prosecuted under Operation Tennessee Waltz. Ford is serving 5 years in prison. A June 24 trial is set for Ford in Nashville on allegations he took $800,000 in illegal payments.

A self-identified African-American caller to a Washington, D.C., radio station characterized the recent anti-Hillary Clinton outburst by the white liberal Chicago priest, Michael Pfleger, as a “minstrel show.” Pfleger, who was preaching “another gospel,” which the authentic gospel warns against, denounced Sen. Clinton for her effrontery and sense of “entitlement” in trying to take the Democratic presidential nomination from a black man, one Barack Obama. Pfleger, who donated $1,500 to the Obama campaign between 1995 and 2001, is indebted to Obama because when Obama was in the Illinois legislature, he, according to the Chicago Tribune, “announced $225,000 in grants to...

St. Sabina's website continues to go after political opponents: Criminalizing gun ownership encouraged, State Reps. and Senators who support Second Amendment are targeted 6/2/2008 12:00:00 PM -CCI In spite of the so-called "agreement" between Cardinal George and Rev. Pfleger, stating that the embattled pastor of St. Sabina's would refrain from all political activism, the web site for St. Sabina's continues to be engaged in politics. A long time opponent of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, Rev. Pfleger attracted national attention last year (which was his goal) when he and Jesse Jackson were arrested after invading a gun shop and...

Obama Effectively F-Bombed His Own Church with Improper Campaign Speech The Internal Revenue Service has cleared the United Church of Christ of accusations that it violated its tax exempt status by hosting Barack Obama’s “A Politics of Conscience.” The IRS’s letter to the United Church of Christ cites the same points that we did: even though Barack Obama’s “A Politics of Conscience” contained campaign-related content, the UCC did everything possible to prevent the Obama campaign from misusing its resources for electioneering. It would therefore be hardly fair to hold the United Church of Christ accountable for Barack Obama’s decision to...

My good friend Lee – a Vietnam veteran and proud gun-toting conservative – recently declared to me that the FairTax is a great idea that will never actually happen. Because I am a true Reagan conservative – one full of optimism and faith in the American people – I respectfully dissent. And I write today to explain exactly how we will win the war against the I.R.S. and make the FairTax a reality. We can all agree that the FairTax movement is a grass roots effort that must prevail over the resistance of politicians and lobbyists who have a powerful...

As part of a widening probe, the U.S. has charged a former UBS AG banker and a Liechtenstein consultant with helping clients avoid taxes by opening secret bank accounts, destroying documents, using Swiss credit cards and filing false tax returns. One client was billionaire California real-estate developer Igor Olenicoff. Mr. Olenicoff set up a web of secret bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to avoid taxes on $200 million in assets, a person familiar with the U.S. case said. Mr. Olenicoff has been cooperating with investigators in the wake of his December guilty plea to a criminal count of filing...

[Placed in the public domain, copying and widespread circulation are encouraged] Obama’s Sword of Damocles: October Surprise Won’t Surprise UsLooming Scandal Will “Toricelli” Barack Obama After Democratic National ConventionThe Democratic Party’s superdelegates, even those who have endorsed Barack Obama, need to do some serious reconsideration between now and the convention. Should Obama become the nominee, the Democrats are likely to find themselves in the same situation as they did with Robert Toricelli (D-NJ) in 2002. As described by Wikipedia (more information at the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A20602-2001May12), In the middle of an increasingly competitive race against Republican Doug Forrester, Torricelli decided...

The law finally caught up with Al Capone, the early 20th Century gangster who terrorized Chicago, when the IRS put him behind bars for tax evasion. They have been living up to their fame ever since. Most recently, Wesley Snipes, of Blade glory, received a three-year prison sentence for trying to cheat the government out of its well-deserved tax dollars. Now none other than the Rev. Al Sharpton is on their black list. The famous civil rights leader and his nonprofit group, the National Action Network, owe $1.5 million in back taxes and associated fees. The NAN has been “negotiating”...

A conservative legal-advocacy group is enlisting ministers to use their pulpits to preach about election candidates this September, defying a tax law that bars churches from engaging in politics. Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Ariz., nonprofit, is hoping at least one sermon will prompt the Internal Revenue Service to investigate, sparking a court battle that could get the tax provision declared unconstitutional. Alliance lawyers represent churches in disputes with the IRS over alleged partisan activity. The action marks the latest attempt by a conservative organization to help clergy harness their congregations to sway elections. The protest is scheduled for Sunday,...

U.S. attorney delves into unflappable civil rights leader's non-profit group NEW YORK - Big corporations give him money. Presidential candidates seek his endorsement. He has influential friends in Congress and the governor's mansion. The Rev. Al Sharpton has emerged over the past decade as perhaps the nation's most prominent civil rights leader, a status that was demonstrated again this week when he led protests against police brutality that briefly shut down six of Manhattan's major bridges and tunnels. But he still carries baggage from his early days as a fire-breathing agitator: Government records obtained by The Associated Press indicate that...

NEW YORK — Conservative legal advocates are recruiting pastors nationwide to defy an IRS ban on preaching about politicians, in a challenge they hope will abolish the restriction. The Alliance Defense Fund, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., will ask the clergy to deliver a sermon about specific candidates Sept. 28. If the action triggers an IRS investigation, the legal group will sue to overturn the federal rules, which were enacted in 1954. Under the IRS code, churches can distribute voter guides, run voter registration drives, hold forums on public policy and invite politicians to speak at their congregations. However, they cannot...

May 9, 2008 By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Big corporations give him money. Presidential candidates seek his endorsement. He has influential friends in Congress and the governor's mansion. The Rev. Al Sharpton has emerged over the past decade as perhaps the nation's most prominent civil rights leader, a status that was demonstrated again this week when he led protests against police brutality that briefly shut down six of Manhattan's major bridges and tunnels. But he still carries baggage from his early days as a fire-breathing agitator: Government records obtained by The Associated Press indicate...

The duly elected sheriff of a county is the highest law enforcement official within a county. He has law enforcement powers that exceed that of any other state or federal official. This is settled law that most people are not aware of. County sheriffs in Wyoming have scored a big one for the 10th Amendment and states rights. The sheriffs slapped a federal intrusion upside the head and are insisting that all federal law enforcement officers and personnel from federal regulatory agencies must clear all their activity in a Wyoming County with the Sheriff’s Office. Deja vu for those who...

Wesley Snipes had only been convicted of misdemeanors concerning his failure to file income tax returns. And the action movie star had submitted written character testimonials from Denzel Washington, Woody Harrelson, and television's Judge Joe Brown to assist him in the judge’s consideration of his sentencing. Through his attorneys, Snipes asked for probation rather than prison, which is the normal sentence with a conviction of someone without a criminal history. Still, in spite of it all, U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges sentenced Snipes to three years in prison. Why did this happen? Well, in February 2008, a federal jury...

“Barack Obama will dramatically simplify tax fillings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in five minutes.” It’s not the FairTax. It’s not the Flat Tax. It’s the Obama Tax. You have to read past page one of Obama’s Economic Agenda (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/#tax-relief) to find this little utopian gem of doing your taxes in five minutes. Page one is naturally beautiful rhetoric and inspiring promises. Obama’s rationale for making this possible is the fact that the IRS already receives Americans’ financial information directly from employers and banks. It’s required by law. What he did not tell...

<p>OCALA, Fla. -- Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison on tax charges Thursday, a victory for prosecutors who sought to make an example of the action star by aggressively pursuing the maximum penalty.</p>

Wesley Snipes was sentenced to 36 months in prison, Thursday. Snipes was convicted of three misdemeanor charges for not filing his taxes. Three years was the maximum sentence allowed. Snipes’ defense team spent the morning arguing that he should not have to go to prison

You know the story. Put a frog in hot water and he'll jump out, but put him in cooler water and slowly raise the heat and he'll stay in even as he boils to death. Are we frogs starting to boil in government stew? In the midst of a Presidential campaign where we seem to be deciding who's universal health care is more universal and who's global climate policy is more global, maybe it's time to check the temperature of the pot we're in. The nature of the slow boil is that short-term changes are not detectable. So let's look...

Taxpayer loses $34,000 refund to false filer By Seattle Times staff A Bellevue woman says someone else received her $34,000 tax refund after they fraudulently filed her tax return. The woman, whose name has not been released, contacted Bellevue police Thursday on the advice of the IRS. The woman told police she called the IRS and discovered her return had already been sent to an address in California, said Greg Gannis, spokesman for Bellevue police. The woman said her taxes had been filed at a storefront tax-preparation center in California under her name. "She lost $34,000 and some change," Gannis...

Dr. Paul has praised non-violent civil disobedience as an honorable and effective means of dealing with runaway federal power, including taxation. You should, nevertheless, know what you're doing and count the cost before you begin. Taxpayer or Non-Taxpayer? Has such a question ever even occurred to you? Have you even heard of a "nontaxpayer" before? Wouldn't it be unpatriotic not to "pay your taxes" like everyone else? Taxpayer? Nontaxpayer? Which are you? Is there an unequivocal reason that you "voluntarily comply" with the world's most obscure, deceptive, and fraudulently administered tax law, Title 26 of the US Code? Are YOU...

Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken's personal corporation didn't file corporate income tax returns in California from 2003 to 2007. A spokesman for the California Franchise Tax Board said the corporation, Alan Franken Inc., owes a minimum of $800 per year as well as penalties and interest to the state of California. John Barrett, spokesman for the Franchise Tax Board, said in order to stop filing corporate income tax returns that Franken's corporation needed to officially dissolve itself in the state of California. He said that was never done. Franken's corporation is now considered forfeited by the state of California. A...

Dear Senator Obama: Our common denomination, the United Church of Christ, has a suddenly serious legal and financial problem with the Internal Revenue Service. You, personally, are the cause of this problem. Candidly? I think you owe it to those of us who are your fellow congregants to help repair the damage that you have done. ...UNSURPRISINGLY, ALL OF THIS resulted in a complaint being filed with the IRS following your presentation. In addition to your speech and the stories featured by the UCC's own website, the complaint cites numerous media accounts describing your appearance as a campaign event. This...

In addition to widening revelations about racist and/or anti-Semitic hate speech not only from his pastor, his associates like Al Sharpton, and even bloggers at his official campaign Web site, there are very credible allegations that he misused the tax exempt resources of the United Church of Christ to promote his candidacy: a malicious and self-serving action that may put his own church’s tax-exempt status in jeopardy. The story centers on "Obama’s General Synod speech prompts IRS to investigate UCC’s tax-exempt status," which is posted at the UCC’s own Web site. [http://www.ucc.org/news/obama-speech-in-2007-prompts-1.html] The Internal Revenue Service has notified the United...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A week before the tax filing deadline, Treasury Department watchdogs are saying that inadequate controls over the IRS computer system could make confidential taxpayer information more vulnerable to hacking and theft. The office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is warning that the lack of monitoring could allow a disgruntled employee or a hacker to disrupt computer operations and steal taxpayer data. The IRS, in response to the report, agreed that it needs to improve oversight of who has access to its computers.

<p>The income tax season shall not be allowed to pass without celebration of its literature.</p> <p>Let the citizen get right into luxuriant prose, like the 11 conditions that must apply for use of an easier tax form, 1040EZ, or the worksheet to "see if you should fill in Form 6251" governing the Alternative Minimum Tax.</p>

A Santa Clarita Valley woman apologized today as she was sentenced to probation for two years for unleashing two dogs, including a pit bull, on an Internal Revenue Service employee in October. Lisa Hriczo Blechman, 47, had no comment other than "I'm sorry" at her sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson. Blechman pleaded guilty in January to one misdemeanor count of assaulting a federal officer. She unleashed the dogs on IRS employee Ruth Seidman, who was attempting to post a summons on Blechman's home. At the time, the IRS was auditing the business of Blechman's husband, Gregg. Seidman...

Yes, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright said from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, "The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes three-strike laws and wants them to sing 'God Bless America.' No! No! No! God damn America for killing innocent people." And, yes, Sen. Barack Obama's pastor said, "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." The spiritual adviser to the Democratic presidential frontrunner also said the United States brought 9/11 on itself. Wright's preaching has been called prophetic. It may also be illegal. At...

Barack Obama may be trying to distance himself from some of the anti-American, anti-semitic and racist statements made by Wright in the pulpit but the recent release of Obama’s tax returns reflect continued financial support of the “church” and hence its message. In 2005 and 2006 alone, the Obama family gave $27,500 to the “church.” The revelation of this information leaves us to ponder-who is really supporting who?

Did you hear the one about the pot dealer's tax return? The New Yorker who claimed the whole city as a dependent? The exotic dancer who deducted ... well ... you know? That's right, it's time once again for Bankrate's 10 craziest tax write-offs you've ever heard, presented as a shot of levity to help make filing your annual federal income tax return a little less tedious. In our first installment, taxpayers sought deductions for everything from ostrich breeding to sperm donations. In round two, a high-tech breast pump and a pimped-out Amish buggy led the list of questionable claims....

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – Military personnel serving in combat zones are eligible for an economic stimulus payment, an Internal Revenue Service spokesman said today during an “America Supports You Live” interview on BlogTalkRadio.com. While combat pay generally is nontaxable, servicemembers are permitted to count this pay on their 2007 or 2008 income tax returns if it helps their eligibility, Clay Sanford explained. “A military person who would not normally file a 2007 tax return because the 2007 income is not taxable, can file a 1040A with the IRS and receive the stimulus payment,” he said. Servicemembers should report...

Thirty-two arrested in Washington antiwar protest Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:54pm GMT By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thirty-two people were arrested on Wednesday when they tried to block entrances to the Internal Revenue Service in protests marking the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, police said. Protesters also picketed news organizations and defence contractors and blocked traffic in several antiwar events across the country as the Iraq war entered its sixth year. On the National Mall, about 100 protesters carried signs that read "The Endlessness Justifies the Meaninglessness" and waved upside-down U.S. flags, a traditional sign of...

WASHINGTON - Police arrested more than a dozen people who crossed a barricade and blocked entrances at the Internal Revenue Service building Wednesday, the start of a day of protests marking the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. A crowd of more than 100 gathered outside the IRS headquarters, chanting "This is a Crime Scene" and "You're Arresting the Wrong People." A marching band led protesters down the street near the National Mall and around the IRS building before dozens of demonstrators gathered at the entrance. Protesters blocked the main entrance for a time, but no federal workers...

WASHINGTON - Police have arrested at least 14 people who crossed a barricade at the entrance of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington at the start of protests marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war.

This message shows that income taxes under George Bush are lower than income taxes under Bill Clinton, and it relies on Tax Foundation data to make this comparison. The author used a Tax Foundation chart showing the federal individual income tax rates and brackets from 1913 to the present to calculate the income taxes paid by hypothetical married and single taxpayers at various income levels under 1999 tax law and 2008 tax law. While the basic message of the comparison is correct (federal income taxes have indeed fallen under George Bush for groups at all points on the income spectrum),...

WLPO AM, LaSalle, IL FairTax National Communications Director, Ken Hoagland, will appear on "The John Spencer Show" on WLPO radio, 1220 AM at 11:05 am CDT. The radio station is in LaSalle, IL and the program will stream from WLPO's Web site. Connect here >>Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Time: 11:05 AM

IR-2008-44, March 17, 2008 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that it will begin sending more than 130 million economic stimulus payments starting May 2. The initial round of weekly payments will be completed by early July. The IRS also announced the availability of a new online calculator on IRS.gov to help people determine the amount of their stimulus payments. Stimulus payments will be made by direct deposit to people who choose to receive their 2007 income tax refunds through direct deposit. All others will receive their economic stimulus payments in the form of a paper check. “To...

Want to keep the tax man away from your money? It's easier than you think. There are lots of ways to increase your wealth without having a chunk gobbled up by the IRS. It's not that the agency doesn't want your money. It's just that the tax law prohibits the IRS from touching it. And with a bit of planning, you can start to cut your current tax bill and put money in your pocket now. Let's look at a few examples....