IRS Agents Carrying Shotguns Not A Big Deal?

*Source: WND

Critics were mocked as 'right-wing fear-mongers'

 

The issue of Internal Revenue Service agents carrying weapons may warrant further scrutiny amid the nationwide distrust of the agency for targeting conservative organizations.

The IRS is also the chief enforcer of Obamacare requirements.


In 2010, the Federal Business Opportunities website posted an IRS request for a quote on the price of shotguns for the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division.

The site sought a quote for 60 Remington Model 870 Police 12-gauge pump-action shotguns, the only weapons authorized for IRS duty.

The IRS Criminal Division includes roughly 2,700 special agents who are required to carry a firearm.
According to the basic qualifications for a position as an IRS special agent for the criminal division, “applicants must carry and use a firearm.”

In October 2012, J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, released a report charging IRS agents need more thorough firearms training and must better report accidental firings of their guns.

“Special agents not properly trained in the use of firearms could endanger the public, as well as their fellow special agents, and expose the IRS to potential litigation over injuries or damages,” George said at the time.
George said IRS agents accidentally fired their weapons 11 times during fiscal years 2009 through fiscal 2011.

‘Right wing’ fear mongering?
When the IRS publicly sought the 60 shotguns in 2010, the progressive activist group Media Matters for America attacked what it labeled the “right-wing blogosphere” for “baselessly fear monger[ing]” over the IRS weapons issue.

Media Matters blasted the popular Drudge Report for its Feb. 3, 2010, headline “The IRS is buying shotguns!”

American Thinker blogger Ralph Alter said of the IRS weapons request: “It looks like the IRS under the Obama administration is getting serious about improving its ability to collect taxes and enforce the tax codes.”

Radio host Tammy Bruce was also spotlighted by Media Matters after she posted on her blog the IRS request for a quote on weapons and commented: “Nothing warms me up in the morning like the idea that the IRS is preparing a swat team equipped with pump-action shotguns. I guess [Obama] thinks they’re gonna have to start shooting at us to squeeze what we have left out of us?” She concluded: “Give us your money or we’ll shoot!”

Mark Levin gets a visit
Earlier this month, national radio host Mark Levin revealed on his show that he received a visit from armed Treasury Department agents after penning a March 2012 letter complaining the IRS was targeting tea party organizations.

Levin noted the two Treasury officials who visited him were “armed” and carrying weapons by claiming “we’re law enforcement.”

Earlier this month, Josh Margolin of ABC News reported that journalists touring the IRS offices in Cincinnati were “escorted” by an armed federal officer.
“The fact is the trust in the IRS is gone,” Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga, said at a speech yesterday. “The American people have lost trust in this organization and rightfully so.”
With additional research by Joshua Klein.

Are you concerned about the increasing use of firearms by non-military government personnel?

• No, only right-wingers and fringe conspiracy theorists worry about it
• No, I trust the government to do what's right and best
• No, I feel more secure knowing Americans are protected
• No, government has an obligation to keep order. Sometimes guns are needed
• No, if they're investigating money laundering, narcotics and terrorism with other federal agencies, they're very necessary
• No, they are sworn federal agents who put their lives on the line in the performance of their duties every day
• I wouldn't be as concerned if the government weren't - at the very same time - trying to take away MY guns and ammunition
• Yes, our president kills American citizens with drones, and he sets the tone for federal agencies
• Yes, it doesn't make sense. If government officials need protection, they should call law-enforcement authorities
• Yes, it's difficult to imagine a scenario that would require shotgun-wielding IRS, EPA and Department of Education personnel
• Yes, given the behavior of the IRS and DOJ, there's no telling what they'll do next
• Yes, why haven't we broken out the torches and pitchforks yet?
• Yes, the federal government is clearly attempting to monopolize armed force in America
• Other

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IRS Gets It's Own 'SWAT team'

*Source: RT

The US Internal Revenue Service is calling on the big guns to help clampdown on companies shifting earnings from country to country to lower the amount of taxes that are owed to the US government.

The group which is being dubbed an IRS “Swat Team,” is attempting to thwart the technique known as "transfer pricing."

The issue has been on the agency’s radar since last May when Samuel Maruca took the role of the transfer pricing director.

The position which didn’t exist before the arrival of Maruca, has been a demanding gig. The goal is to put an end to the thriving practice of companies evading global tax responsibilities.

According to Reuters, the major players include worldwide corporations that are continuously exchanging properties, services and resources from one subsidiary to another in different countries.

"The economic crisis allowed the IRS to attract talented, experienced industry professionals who might not have been available previously," said ex-deputy IRS Commissioner Michael Dolan, now director of KPMG's Washington national tax practice to Reuters.

With the acquisition of Maruca, 40 positions have been filled as of yet and the IRS plans to bring 60 more employees on board.

Those who have already joined the task force include professionals from the Big Four audit firms KPMG, Ernst & Young, the law firm Mayer Brown and Horst Frisch.

Many experts are critical of the recent attempt to crackdown on the tax evasion practices including Maruca himself.

He expressed in an interview with Reuters that previously the IRS “had a difficult time attracting and retaining economists." Maruca also stated the Federal agency often struggles to match the pay for these positions with the IRS and the private-sector pay is significantly higher.

Even though this newly acquired task force is full steam ahead, many feel this will merely put a dent on the international dilemma.

"Will he really have enough resources to change the game?" Dolan said.

Currently the IRS employs approximately 90,000 people and saw a budget cut of roughly 2.5 percent by Congress for fiscal 2012 which equal to about 11.8 billion dollars.

Maruca believes with the IRS's international group’s "significant external hiring authority," coupled with the government pursuing the ability to limit corporations' manipulation of these transfers, could give the IRS a real fighting chance.

This isn’t the first time the IRS has tried something like this, two major transfer pricing court judgments went against the IRS in 2009 and 2010.

With the new efforts many are certain that companies will fight back in an effort to keep control of the pricing of these moves and even if the IRS gets its way, some critics believe it will be a difficult task to enforce a potential new regulation especially for intangible assets, such as search-engine algorithms or trademarks, Reuters reported.

"Clearly, the IRS is trying to figure out what to do next on its litigation strategy in these important transfer pricing cases," said Eric Solomon, a director at Ernst & Young.

Many governments all over the global are hoping to profit from the initiative and gain corporate tax revenues.