Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
IRS News
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Free Webinar Today On Job Opportunities In The Office Of Tax Policy (U.S. Treasury Department)
The ABA Tax Section is hosting a free webinar today at 1:00 PM ET on Opportunities to Influence Change: Legal Jobs in the Office of Tax Policy (register here): The Office of Tax Policy at the Treasury Department is responsible for developing and implementing the tax policies and programs of the United States, drafting tax…
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For 1st Time Since 2011, IRS Makes Mid-Year Adjustment In Standard Mileage Rate Due To Spike In Gas Prices; 62.5¢/Mile Is Up 11.6% From 2021
IR-2022-124, IRS Increases Mileage Rate For Remainder of 2022: The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rate for the final 6 months of 2022. Taxpayers may use the optional standard mileage rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business and certain other purposes. For the…
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IRS Dangles Telework To Lure Workers To Beleaguered Agency
Bloomberg, IRS Dangles Telework to Lure New Recruits to Beleaguered Agency: The IRS is in the midst of a return-to-office effort that will offer many employees the option to telework some or most of the time, something agency officials and union leaders view as an asset in recruiting. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the agency to…
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IRS Releases 2021 Data Book: Audit Rates Plummet For The Rich
Following up on my previous post, GAO: IRS Audit Rates Plummet For The Rich: IR-2022-111, IRS Releases Fiscal Year 2021 Data Book Describing Agency’s Activities (May 26, 2022): The Internal Revenue Service today issued the Data Book detailing the agency's activities during fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021). … In addition to describing…
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GAO: Lack Of Data Limits Research On Tax Equity
GAO, Tax Equity: Lack of Data Limits Ability to Analyze Effects of Tax Policies on Households by Demographic Characteristics: The U.S. has a large and increasing gap in income and wealth by race, ethnicity, and sex. However, little is known about the effects of tax policies across demographic characteristics. The tax code does not tax…
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WSJ: To Get Your Tax Records From The IRS, Taxpayers Still Have To Turn Over Sensitive Personal Info To Outside Vendor
Following up on my previous posts (linked below): Wall Street Journal Tax Report, They’re Your IRS Records. Getting Them Means Giving Up Privacy.: Tax Day 2022 has come and gone, but this year’s filing season brought an unpleasant surprise for many Americans that’s still here: People who want online access to their tax records at…
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WSJ Op-Ed: Biden’s Tax Proposal Would Help Nobody But Tax Lawyers
Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: A Biden Tax Proposal Would Help Nobody but Tax Lawyers, by Travis Nix (J.D. 2023, Georgetown): Buried on page 82 of the Biden administration budget’s proposed tax changes for 2023 is a section that would give the Internal Revenue Service more time to audit individuals and large companies. Current law limits the…
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WSJ Op-Ed: When Judge Jackson Sided With A Pro-Israel Nonprofit In Tax Exemption Battle Against The IRS
Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: When Judge Jackson Ruled Against the IRS, by Leslie Lenkowsky (Indiana): It’s safe to assume that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson—who was appointed to the federal bench by President Obama and has been lauded by progressives—wasn’t personally a fan of the tea-party movement. But while on the bench, she defended a pro-Israel…
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NY Times: IRS Seeks $5 Billion To Fund 40% Increase In Criminal Investigations Unit To Target Russian Oligarchs
New York Times, Amid Invasion of Ukraine, I.R.S. Aims to Police Oligarch Sanctions: The Internal Revenue Service is pressing Congress to devote more resources to the agency as it takes an increasingly central role in the Biden administration’s efforts to prevent Russia and its oligarchs from evading the punishing sanctions that the United States has imposed. Aides…
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IRS Audits Of Poorest Families Soar While Millionaire Audits Continue To Languish
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University has released a new report, IRS Audits Poorest Families at Five Times the Rate for Everyone Else: A large increase in federal income tax audits targeting the poorest wage earners allowed the Internal Revenue Service to keep overall audit numbers from further declines for Americans as a whole…
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WSJ: IRS Is Audited Over Its Safeguards Against Favored Treatment Of Big Business
Following up on my previous posts: NY Times: Tax Lawyers At Top Accounting Firms Cycle In And Out Of Top Treasury Posts And Reap Huge Reward For Their Clients And Themselves (Sept. 21, 2021) NY Times: Treasury Is Asked To Investigate Its Hiring Of Tax Lawyers From Big Accounting Firms (Feb. 28, 2022) Wall Street…
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NY Times: Decades Of Neglect Leave IRS In Tax Season ‘Chaos’
New York Times, Decades of Neglect Leave I.R.S. in Tax Season ‘Chaos’: At the Internal Revenue Service’s sprawling Kansas City, Mo., processing center, teams of clerks earning $15 per hour work through the night, trying to help the agency clear a backlog of more than 20 million tax returns that are a year overdue. The…
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Bogdanski: The IRS Will Move Faster! No, Not For You.
Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark), The IRS Will Move Faster! No, Not For You.: I’ve been digging through the tax news of the last few weeks. It’s my job. And one of the items that caught my eye was an announcement by the IRS that it’s setting up a new “fast track” private letter ruling…
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NY Times: Treasury Is Asked To Investigate Its Hiring Of Tax Lawyers From Big Accounting Firms
Following up on my previous post, NY Times: Tax Lawyers At Top Accounting Firms Cycle In And Out Of Top Treasury Posts And Reap Huge Reward For Their Clients And Themselves: New York Times, Treasury Is Asked to Investigate Its Hiring of Lawyers From Big Accounting Firms: A pair of Democratic lawmakers asked the Treasury Department’s…
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WaPo Op-Ed: Taxpayers Will Pay An Enormous Price For The IRS Not Using Facial Recognition
Following up on my previous posts: The IRS Wants To Scan Your Face (Jan. 22, 2022) IRS Abandons Plan To Require Taxpayers To Scan Their Face To See Their Tax Returns After Firestorm Of Criticism (Feb. 8, 2022) Washington Post op-ed: Taxpayers Will Pay an Enormous Price for the IRS Not Using Facial Recognition, by Stewart…
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IRS Office of Chief Counsel Hosts Navigating Careers In IRS’ Office Of Chief Counsel
IRS Office of Chief Counsel hosts Navigating Careers in IRS’ Office of Chief Counsel today at 12:30 PM EST (register here). Have you ever wondered about working for the IRS, Office of Chief Counsel? Are you interested in tax or cutting edge issues? Do you like Litigation or Transactional Law? Have you considered a career with the…
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IRS Chief Counsel Honors Attorney Program (Class of 2022)
USA Jobs, Honors Attorney Program (Class of 2022): SummaryOffice of Chief Counsel, IRS, is looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our team and gain valuable experience in a legal environment. Our mission is to serve America's taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest…
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IRS Abandons Plan To Require Taxpayers To Scan Their Face To See Their Tax Returns After Firestorm Of Criticism
Following up on last week's post, The IRS Wants To Scan Your Face: IR-2022-27 (Feb. 7, 2022), IRS Announces Transition Away From Use of Third-Party Verification Involving Facial Recognition: The IRS announced it will transition away from using a third-party service for facial recognition to help authenticate people creating new online accounts. The transition will…
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IRS Offers To Settle Cryptocurrency Case, But Taxpayer Wants Precedent That Mining/Staking Is Not A Realization Event
Press Release, Taxpayer Lawsuit Demands Confirmation of Tax Treatment of Staking Rewards: Today, the Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), a leading blockchain industry association, celebrated important news: as part of ongoing federal litigation (Jarrett v. United States, No. 3:21-cv-00419 (M.D. Tenn.)), the government has offered to refund plaintiff Joshua Jarrett for the taxes he paid when he created new…
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The IRS Wants To Scan Your Face
Washington Post, IRS Wants to Scan Your Face: Millions of Americans will soon have to scan their faces to access their Internal Revenue Service tax accounts, one of the government’s biggest expansions yet of facial recognition software into people’s everyday lives. Taxpayers will still be able to file their returns the old-fashioned way; the IRS…
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IRS Chief Counsel Seeks To Hire 200 Experienced Attorneys (Salary: $79,363 – $176,300)
IR-2022-17, IRS Chief Counsel Looking For 200 Experienced Attorneys to Focus on Abusive Tax Deals; Job Openings Posted: The Internal Revenue Service's Office of Chief Counsel today announced plans to hire up to 200 additional attorneys to help the agency combat syndicated conservation easements, abusive micro-captive insurance arrangements and other tax schemes. "Combating abusive tax…
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National Taxpayer Advocate Delivers 2021 Annual Report To Congress
IR-2022-11 (Jan. 12, 2022), National Taxpayer Advocate Delivers Annual Report to Congress; Focuses on Taxpayer Impact of Processing and Refund Delays: National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins today released her 2021 Annual Report to Congress, calling calendar year 2021 "the most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced." The report says tens of millions…
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NY Times: The IRS Is Warning Of A Messy Tax Season
New York Times, The I.R.S. Is Warning of a Messy Tax Season: The federal tax filing season will run from Jan. 24 to April 18 this year, the Internal Revenue Service said on Monday, warning in its announcement that staffing shortages and paperwork backlogs could make for a messy and frustrating experience for taxpayers. In…
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Customer Service At The IRS Is So Bad, Even Tax Pros Are Fed Up
Bloomberg Businessweek, Customer Service at the IRS Is So Bad, Even Tax Pros Are Fed Up: As tax season approaches, the agency is short-staffed, underfunded, and so overwhelmed with calls that even a phone number for VIPs is a bust. Reaching the IRS has always been an exercise in patience. But years of budget cuts…
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Can The IRS Be Trusted With Your Data?
Bloomberg Opinion: Can the IRS Be Trusted With Your Data?, by Stephen L. Carter (Yale): Like many Americans, I tend to feel generous this time of year — not only because it’s the season for giving, but also for the tax implications. This year, however, my usual concerns about how many deductions I can claim…