IRS petitioning for partial repeal of `10 Deadly Sins'

0 Comments | Insight on the News, March 11, 2002 | by Sean Paige

The Treasury Department reportedly is petitioning Congress to lessen the punishment faced by IRS employees found guilty of committing the so-called "10 Deadly Sins." Treasury argues that some of the penalties, instituted in 1998 because of mounting taxpayer complaints of IRS abuses of power, are hurting morale and hampering efforts to collect taxes.

The reforms meted out stiff penalties, including termination, to IRS employees who committed any one of 10 specific offenses, ranging from ordering a property seizure without approval to filing a tax return late. The IRS investigated more than 2,700 potential "sin" violations between July 1998 and March 2001, of which 243 allegations were substantiated, leading to 188 firings or resignations. Most of the terminations were for tardy filing of tax returns.

The department is not seeking repeal of all the "sins," but is asking for more flexibility in dealing with minor transgressions. It would like the "sins" of filing a late tax return and harassing a coworker removed from the list while adding one new "sin" -- barring IRS employees from any unauthorized perusing of tax returns or return information, a practice that has led to abuses in the past. Some of the "sins" likely to remain on the list include: threatening to audit a taxpayer for personal gain; assaulting, harassing or violating the civil rights of a taxpayer; falsifying or destroying records; lying under oath; underreporting one's income; and, of course, misleading Congress.

SEAN PAIGE IS A WRITER FOR Insight.