A CASE OF CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE? IRS: 100,000 US TAXPAYERS’ FILES STOLEN, BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WASTED

In 2011, the IRS Wasted $3.6 Billion on Fraudulent Refunds, Even Sending Thousands of Refunds to Foreign Countries

In One Account Alone, the IRS Deposited 590 Tax Refunds!

23,944 Tax Refunds Were Sent to Just One Address in Atlanta, Totaling $46,378,000!

In 2015, Americans will pay $3.3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total bill of more than $4.8 trillion, or 31 percent of the nation’s income, according to Tax Foundation. That’s more than this country of 319 million people spends on food, clothing, and housing – combined! (see TAX OPPRESSION IN AMERICA, Apr 2015).

Bad enough, right, when you consider how our money is being squandered on foreign wars that only benefit certain banks and corporations instead of building up our society. But what if I told you that the government’s collection agency – the IRS – is sending thousands of refunds to fraudulent recipients across the country, and even to foreign countries, such as  Bulgaria, Lithuania, China or Ireland?

In one account alone, the IRS deposited 590 tax refunds. A total of 23,944 tax refunds Were sent to just one address in Atlanta, totaling $46,378,000.

These are just some of the example of gross negligence the IRS exhibited in processing electronic filing of our income tax returns, according to a letter to the IRS commissioner signed by 39 House Representatives in Apr 2014 (Congressmen’s letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen).

So what has the IRS done to plug these leaks in over a year since that letter was sent? It appears not much. Because today, May 26, the IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said that tax return information for about 100,000 U.S. taxpayers was illegally accessed by cyber criminals over the past four months (see Reuters story).

From February to May 2915, attackers sought to gain access to personal tax information 200,000 times through the agency’s “Get Transcript” online application, which calls up information from previous returns, he told a news conference. About half of those attempts were successful.

The data theft was largely intended to steal taxpayers’ information to submit fraudulent returns next year, Koskinen said.

The agency currently believes that fewer than 15,000 fraudulent returns were processed as a result of the breach, likely resulting in refunds of less than $50 million.

In response to this story, we received a letter from Rita Redmond, a Truth in Media reader in Phoenix, who said she was a victim of such an identity theft.

“In April 2014, I realized my SS# had been stolen and someone filed a Federal Return using my Tax ID#.  How is it that mine (and I was certain others’ tax refunds) could have gone into someone else’s bank account?  What kind of fire-walls does the IRS have in place? I felt they should have tighter IT security applications at the front end, rather than all the clean up at the other side and the loss of dollars.”

Indeed. Here’s what the Truth in Media editor wrote on that topic earlier today:

“Wonders of technology! Not !!!! This what happens when the government FORCES us to file electronically. First they spy on us electronically – and illegally. Then they let our private information slip through their fingers.”

“Perhaps the IRS should be charged with criminal negligence. For those not familiar with legal terms, “criminal negligence is a ‘misfeasance or ‘nonfeasance’, where the fault lies in the failure to foresee and so allow otherwise avoidable dangers to manifest.”

No wonder fraud victims like Ms Redmond are livid:

“I am so angry.  This is shameful.  Someone else received twice the amount of my legitimate return.  I want to know that whoever store my Federal return is arrested and jailed but the IRS “call center” tells me the investigation takes 9 months and I will never know who it was.  This tells me whoever has these millions of dollars has time to cover their trail and get away with it. “

Only if we, the taxpayers, say silent about it. Which is why we are publishing this story. If you think the IRS has been criminally negligent, call or write to your Congressmen and Senators and demand that the culprits be criminally prosecuted and jailed for failing to carry out their fiduciary duties.

And by all means, file your 2016 return on paper and by mail. The IRS has proven beyond a doubt that they are incapable of safeguarding our private information online.