Free Republic

One of the stranger political crusades of the past few years has been the Republican war on so-called woke capital, which has led GOP politicians across the country to adopt a kind of anti-corporate, pro-regulatory rhetoric that one normally associates with the left wing of the Democratic Party. And among the GOP’s favorite targets in this war has been ESG investing—investment funds that take “environmental, social, and governance” considerations into account. For Republicans, ESG funds are a Trojan horse, designed to smuggle progressive attitudes toward climate change, and diversity and inclusion, into executive suites and corporate boardrooms, all under the...

A former IRS consultant was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday for leaking tax information about “thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals” to news outlets between 2018 and 2020. Charles Littlejohn, 38, pleaded guilty in October to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return and return information after reaching a plea agreement with government prosecutors. The Justice Department did not name the news outlets or individuals whose tax information was disclosed, though the description and timeline of Littlejohn’s actions coincided with reporting in The New York Times and ProPublica about former President Trump’s tax returns. In his...

As the tax season kicks off next week, Americans have several free filing options — and some taxpayers will soon qualify for a new offering from the IRS. Known as Direct File, the agency’s free filing software pilot will begin as an invitation-only service for a group of government workers before rolling out to certain taxpayers in 12 states by mid-March. The software is “simple, secure and free,” Laurel Blatchford, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s chief implementation officer for the Inflation Reduction Act, said in a statement Thursday. Direct File comes after a feasibility report authorized by the Inflation...

A former IRS contractor who leaked a slew of confidential tax records filed by the wealthiest Americans, including those of President Donald Trump, was sentenced Monday to the maximum of five years in prison. Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty last year to one count of unauthorized disclosure of income tax returns. Littlejohn, 38, admitted that he leaked Trump’s confidential tax information to the New York Times in 2019 and then replicated his work the next year, filtering the tax returns and financial data of thousands of wealthy Americans to ProPublica.

Another apparent “sweetheart deal” negotiated by President Biden’s Justice Department in a politically charged case is drawing scrutiny.Former IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn, who stole and helped publicize the confidential tax records of Donald Trump and an estimated 7,500 other wealthy Americans, could face little or no jail time when he’s sentenced later this month, because the DOJ allowed him to plead guilty to a single felony count.In a new court filing, prosecutors acknowledge the plea deal “does not account for the fact that he leaked thousands of individuals’ tax returns. His [sentencing] range would be the same today if...

The total value of an inheritance is not just a dollar figure; what’s actually in an estate can matter significantly. Trillions of dollars will transfer from one generation to the next in the decades ahead, but not everyone will see their inheritance as a help; for some, it may actually be a headache.The fact is, some assets are better than others to leave behind. Others can cause arguments between family members, or may have hidden costs. Sometimes, let’s face it, your kids just don’t want your stuff.You can prevent issues from happening though with thoughtful estate planning. “A lot of...

Two owners of an iconic Philly cheesesteak shop were sentenced to prison for tax fraud Thursday. Nicholas Lucidonio, 57, and Anthony Lucidonio Sr., 84, who owned and operated Tony Luke’s, a cheesesteak restaurant in South Philadelphia, have both been sentenced to 20 months in prison for “their decade-long conspiracy to defraud the IRS,” according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). The Lucidonios hid more than $8 million in cash receipts from the IRS from 2006 to 2016, according to the release. They did so by “among other things, depositing only a portion of the cash they...

America's tax debts are spiraling after the IRS put a halt to chasing payments during the pandemic. Some 18.6 million taxpayers owed the IRS $316 billion in overdue taxes at the end of 2022, up from 16.8 million owing $308 billion in September 2019. And the figures are only set to grow this year. Experts are warning that workers who have been used to getting refunds in the last few years can swing into money owed for 2024. The trend has been fueled by the end of pandemic tax relief and also a booming stock market which puts more investors...

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence a former IRS contractor to five years in prison for leaking the tax records of former President Donald Trump and other wealthy Americans to the media. In court papers Tuesday, prosecutors urged the judge to impose the statutory maximum of five years in prison for Charles Littlejohn of Washington, D.C., after he pleaded guilty in October to one count of disclosing tax return information without authorization. Littlejohn also admitted to leaking tax records belonging to “over a thousand” other wealthy people. In a plea agreement last year, government attorneys estimated eight to...

Remember when Sen. Joe Manchin turned his back on those who had supported him against the far-left onslaught by voting to pass the so-called Inflation Reduction Act? And remember when that boondoggle bill contained over $80 billion in new funding for the IRS? At the time, we were all assured that the funding would go to good use, expanding the enforcement ability of the IRS, raking in billions upon billions of dollars in unpaid taxes from (in my best Bernie Sanders voice) the "millionaires and billionaires." If you're wondering how that turned out, we've got some hard numbers that give...

Nearly 5 million taxpayers who have unpaid tax bills from 2020 and 2021 will have almost $1 billion in penalty fees waived by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS announced penalty relief in December for taxpayers who had outstanding tax bills but were not sent automated collection reminder notices during the pandemic. Though the notices did not go out in 2020 and 2021, the failure-to-pay penalty accrued for taxpayers who did not fully pay their bills. "As the IRS has been preparing to return to normal collection mailings, we have been concerned about taxpayers who haven't heard from us...

John Anthony Castro, a Texas man known for his legal efforts to challenge former President Donald Trump’s eligibility for the 2024 presidential ballot, has been arrested on charges related to filing false tax documents. Castro, who filed challenges in 27 states against Trump’s ballot placement, was indicted last week on 33 counts of aiding the preparation of false tax returns. Castro operated a virtual tax preparation business that deceitfully inflated tax refunds for clients, The Hill reported. Castro was the proprietor of Castro & Company LLC, a digital tax preparation firm with establishments in Orlando, Mansfield, and Washington, D.C., per...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plans to roll out a free way to file federal taxes, much to the chagrin of tax preparation firm TurboTax. The IRS is launching a pilot plan, known as Direct File, that will offer a free way to submit taxes for U.S. workers. In December, the agency published its plans for an in-house filing system that taxpayers can use to submit their federal tax returns at no cost. Residents of 12 states that meet certain income criteria will be able to try the new service. To qualify, filers need to opt for the standard deduction...

A Texas man who filed over two dozen challenges to former President Trump’s ballot eligibility was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he filed 17 sets of false tax documents to the IRS. John Anthony Castro was indicted last week on 33 counts of aiding the preparation of false tax returns. Prosecutors claim he ran a virtual tax preparation business that provided customers with tax returns beyond what they were actually owed, defrauding the government. “Castro would promise a significantly higher refund than taxpayers could receive from other preparers and on many occasions, offered to split the additional refund with taxpayers,”...

IRS provides tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2024. TLDR — your taxes will DOUBLE unless you’re married, in which case your taxes will TRIPLE. via IRS: IR-2023-208, Nov. 9, 2023 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced the annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions for tax year 2024, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes. Revenue Procedure 2023-34 provides detailed information about these annual adjustments.

COMMENTARY The slow-motion collapse of St. Michael’s Media (a 501(c)3), Church Militant (a 501(c)4) and the quasi-entity known as the Deposit of Faith Coalition is a case study: first, in the kissing cousin dangers between 501(c)3s and 501(c)4s; and second, the risk organizations run when they affiliate, even loosely, with nonprofits run by individuals who are deliberately ignorant of their legal responsibilities. Viva la Différence! Most people are completely unaware of the distinction between various non-profit entities. Donations to some are tax deductible, others are not. Some have to file IRS Form 990 which discloses information about the organization, others...

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler were not able to confirm to congress the supposed loans Joe Biden sent his family members after his vice presidency concluded. Both IRS agents testified Dec. 5 in front of the House Ways and Means Committee and neither could “verify” the existence of loans between Joe Biden and his family members when he was out of office, according to a newly released transcript of the whistleblower testimony. FULL TESTIMONY TRANSCRIPT: SCRIBD PDF AT LINK...................... “So Joe Biden is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for, quote, ‘repayments’ to him of loans that...

Wray opting for misdirection instead of transparency suggests he knows precisely what the FBI did in response to evidence implicating the Bidens in a bribery scandal: nothing.. FBI Director Christopher Wray alleged on Tuesday that he did not learn of the confidential human source’s (CHS) claim that the Ukrainian energy giant Burisma had bribed the Bidens until “much, much, much more recently than anything around 2020.” Wray’s testimony cannot be squared with earlier testimony from whistleblowers and the Pittsburgh U.S. attorney — unless those investigating Hunter Biden buried the CHS’s reporting. On Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, drilled the FBI...

Tuesday morning the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments pursuant to a case in which Charles and Kathleen Moore argue that an obscure provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is unconstitutional. This is not an “inside baseball” case that only compulsive Court watchers will care about. If the justices rule against the Moores, it will supercharge the government’s confiscatory powers by enabling its inclination to tax unrealized income. This will affect everyone reading this column, not just investors with large stock portfolios. It would, in theory, permit the IRS to tax an increase in the value...

A case that could punch holes in the federal tax code heads to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The court will hear arguments in Moore v. U.S., which challenges a piece of the 2017 tax law that imposed a one-time levy on profits that companies had accumulated outside the U.S. But its implications could reach much further, providing the justices an opportunity to define what Congress can tax under the Constitution—and what it can’t. The case, brought by a Washington state couple seeking a $14,729 refund, raises a seemingly simple question: Must income be “realized,” or received, before it can...