IRS Apologizes To Conservative Groups

IRS Apologizes To Conservative Groups

The Internal Revenue Service apologized to conservative groups for targeting them inappropriately.  Around the time of the 2012 election, the IRS flagged many conservative organizations to verify their tax status to see if they were an exempt organization.

English: Anonymous Says: "Help Revoke Tax...
English: Anonymous Says: “Help Revoke Tax Exempt Status” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Initially, it was thought that only groups with “patriot” or “tea party” in their names were targeted, but many other conservative groups were targeted by the IRS.  When the conservative organizations filed for tax-exempt status, they were singled out for additional reviews.

The attack was blamed on workers in an IRS office in Cincinnati, but now officials say the fault may be at a higher office.

During the 2012 presidential election, conservative groups began to complain about being harassed about their tax exempt status.  The IRS asked them several questions about their tax filing status, which delayed their tax exempt status.

The head of the IRS division in charge of assigning tax exempt status, Lois Lerner, claims that what happened was inappropriate.  She says there was a large number of organizations filing for tax exempt status after a hallmark 2010 Supreme Court decision.  The court decision allowed labor unions and corporations to raise and spend high amount of money, and they could register as a tax exempt if they were not political organizations.

No one knows if any White House officials knew about the IRS targeting conservative groups.  It also is not clear if the Treasury Department knew what was happening.

The White House is calling for a formal investigation.  Those found at fault will be disciplined as needed.  Lerner claims that she did not inform the White House what was happening.

More IRS Audits Planned

Nobody likes being audited by the IRS, although the chances of being audited are now actually higher as there are more of them planned.

For those filing who had an income of over $200,000, IRS audits were increased by around 34 percent between 2010 and 2011. Despite this hefty increase, audit rates in general are still low, regardless of income amount.

For those earning over $200,000, almost 4 percent were audited for the 2011 year, and for those earning over a million dollars, audits were increased by 24 percent, with around 12.5 percent of those taxpayers being audited. The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg all noticed this and commented on it.

In actuality, you have a two percent chance of being audited, although the Treasury Department still requires tax advisers and preparers to assume that all returns will be audited.

Of course, the chance of being audited affects the advice given, and if a tax preparer tells you that something will probably be accepted, he or she has to assume the return may be audited. Although there is no sure way to avoid being audited, take a look at our 10 ways to audit proof your return.

Various things can trigger an audit, in addition to your actual income, including which items are claimed, your deductions and any tax credits. If you claimed the earned income tax credit (EITC) you generally have more chance of being audited.

A large income alone draws attention, but does not necessarily mean that you will be audited. However, for those of us who are lucky enough to be very wealthy, the IRS actually has a special task frce to handle those tax returns.