After years of claims that it abused American taxpayers, the IRS may finally face the consequences. If the agency’s independent watchdog will let it.
Congressional Republican leaders recently sent letters to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) demanding that it make public its probes into actions by so-called rogue agents.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, outlined a series of disturbing allegations against the IRS in the letters to acting Inspector General Heather Hill. Those claims include that IRS agents used fake names, bullied taxpayers during visits to their houses and forged documents.
Jordan cited the suspicious visit made by an agent using the name “Bill Haus” to an Ohio taxpayer in April 2023. That agent told the homeowner she owed the IRS money on an estate. When the woman protested, the agent was accused of threatening to freeze her assets and place a lien against the house. Jordan said that when the taxpayer’s attorney got involved, the agent said, “I can be at and go into anyone’s house at any time I want to be.”
It turned out that “Haus” wasn’t the agent’s real name, and the taxpayer owed the IRS nothing. The IRS eventually said the agent’s behavior was wrong. Last July, the IRS announced it ended “most unannounced visits” to increase the public’s trust in the agency.
Two other allegations involved the alleged backdating and falsifying documents concerning land cases. The IRS acknowledged backdating a supervisor’s signature by four months in a case in Georgia that resulted in the agency forgoing a $15.2 million penalty.
In the second case, court documents show an IRS agent asked his supervisor in March 2022 to sign audit forms with the date “you ‘approved’ penalties … or a little thereafter?” The supervisor backdated the forms to July 2021. The case has yet to be resolved.
Jordan wrote that the cases show a “concerning pattern” of IRS agents abusing their power. It’s not known if the IRS punished any of the agents.
In a separate letter, Jordan demanded TIGTA send the committee all documents relating to its investigation into Charles Littlejohn’s decision to steal, then leak former president Donald Trump’s tax documents and those of thousands of wealthy Americans to media outlets. Littlejohn worked as a contractor during the thefts in 2018. He acknowledged becoming an IRS contractor to get “access to taxpayers’ information.”
Littlejohn received five years in prison earlier this year following a plea deal with the Justice Department. There are still plenty of questions regarding the case.
The IRS told victims in May that agents did not find out how many taxpayers were affected until Littlejohn’s plea deal was reached. They added it’s not known how much information Littlejohn leaked.
Jordan wondered if TIGTA and federal prosecutors wanted the case to go away. He asked for all “documents and communications” between TIGTA and the Justice Department on Littlejohn, including the findings of the investigation. He also wanted to know what recommendations were made regarding Littlejohn.
TIGTA was also asked to provide the Judiciary Committee its recommendations to the IRS on how victims should be notified and what information should be made public. Jordan said TIGTA should reveal the total number of victims whose information was leaked.
The case was so serious that one victim, hedge fund manager and entrepreneur David Griffith, sued the government for damages.
As part of a settlement reached last week, the IRS issued a rare apology to Griffith “and the thousands of other Americans” who saw their information made public. The agency promised it had made “substantial investments” into data security to ensure that kind of leak didn’t happen again.
A TIGTA representative said Jordan should get his reply by July 5.
