Enabling tax cheats

The Obama administration’s spendthrift “stimulus” squandered $ 1.4 billion in Federal Housing Administration mortgage guarantees — plus at least $27 million in first-time-homebuyer tax credits — on borrowers who were delinquent on paying taxes to the IRS.

A new audit from the congressional Government Accountability Office also says FHA lacked safeguards to enforce rules against giving guarantees to tax delinquents who didn’t have IRS repayment agreements, The Washington Times reports.

The 6,327 tax scofflaws who received FHA mortgage guarantees owed the IRA a total of $77.6 million — or $ 12,000-plus each, on average. And with the foreclosure rate for tax delinquents, as a group, three times that of other borrowers, those guarantees exposed FHA to "even greater risks," according to The Times.

The IRS couldn’t even subtract unpaid taxes from the tax refunds of delinquents who had declared bankruptcy and claimed the first-time-homebuyer credit.

"The federal government needlessly put taxpayers on the line to help tax cheats buy homes," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who requested the audit. It’s up to Congress to keep tax cheats from taking advantage of FHA programs, he says.

What Americans who pay their taxes want to know is how that could have happened in the first place.

IRS Tax Tip: More Flexible Offer-in-Compromise Terms Help Taxpayers Make a Fresh Start

The IRS has expanded its “Fresh Start” initiative by offering more flexible terms to its Offer-in-Compromise Program. These newest rules enable some financially distressed taxpayers to clear up their tax problems even quicker.

An offer-in-compromise (OIC) is an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer’s tax liabilities for less than the full amount owed. An OIC is generally not accepted if the IRS believes the liability can be paid in full as a lump sum or through a payment agreement. The IRS looks at the taxpayer’s income and assets to determine the reasonable collection potential.

This expansion of the "Fresh Start" initiative focuses on the financial analysis used to determine which taxpayers qualify for an OIC.

Here are the OIC changes:

  • Revising the calculation for a taxpayer’s future income - The IRS will now look at only one year (instead of four years) of future income for offers paid in five or fewer months; and two years (instead of five years) of future income for offers paid in six to 24 months. All OICs must be paid in full within 24 months of the date the offer is accepted.
  • Allowing taxpayers to repay their student loans - Minimum payments on student loans guaranteed by the federal government will be allowed for the taxpayer’s post-high school education. Proof of payment must be provided.
  • Allowing taxpayers to pay state and local delinquent taxes - When a taxpayer owes delinquent federal and state or local taxes, and does not have the ability to fully pay the liabilities, monthly payments to state taxing authorities may be allowed in certain circumstances.
  • Expanding the Allowable Living Expense allowance - Standard allowances incorporate average expenses for basic necessities for citizens in similar geographic areas. These standards are used when evaluating installment agreement and offer-in-compromise requests. The National Standard miscellaneous allowance has been expanded. Taxpayers can use the allowance to cover expenses such as credit card payments and bank fees and charges
  • Contact Good News Tax Relief for your free,no obligation consultation to see if a offer in compromise is a good fit for your current IRS tax problem.Call 1.800.255.7500 to speak to one of our tax specialists.

IRS hiring 6,500 new enforcers to collect Obamacare tax

An article posted on Alex Jones website, InfoWars.com, on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, reveals Rep. Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican, warns that the IRS will be hiring up to 6,500 tax enforcers to go after American citizens who refuse to pay the Obamacare tax. Or is it a penalty? Either way, it's going to cost the American tax payer a bundle of money.

According to InfoWars.com, aside from the fact that Americans will be forced to comply with government mandated insurance coverage there are also nearly two dozen new tax increases that will be levied under Obamacare. If you think you have trouble understanding the tax forms now just wait until these new laws go into effect.

At least one of those new taxes will be used to offset the $300 million the IRS says it needs to manage the infrastructure needed to institute these new policies and hire 4,000 to 6,500 new tax enforcers to strong-arm the American public into paying the price of Obamacare.

However, according to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, these new tax enforcers won't be collecting taxes, they'll be collecting penalties. In a CNN interview she stated:

"This is a penalty that will be assessed on the tax return if you choose to roll the dice and make us all pay for your being irresponsible and increase all of our health care costs."

Schultz says the difference is that a tax is assessed across a broad spectrum of people, namely, the entire population of America. This particular penalty, however, will only affect approximately 1% of American households, those who either can't afford coverage or have no employee health care plan, and will only be assessed if you don't ante up and buy your own health insurance.

Schultz stated that Americans will not be required to have health insurance under Obamacare. However, if you don't then you'll be assessed a penalty, and that penalty will be collected by the IRS on your annual tax return.

"You have to be responsible and you have to pay a penalty if you choose not to be."