HomeThe IRS Can Reunite Families, If We Let It
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The IRS Can Reunite Families, If We Let It
by TomTerrific0420 Fri Dec 31, 2010 5:09 am
The IRS cooperates with other agencies
to collect past-due child support, federal agency non-tax debts and
state income tax obligations. Yet when it comes to working with
investigators to reunite abducted children with their legal guardians,
the Service says “no can do.”
About 200,000 family abductions are reported annually in the United
States. These cases, in which a non-custodial relative illegally takes a
child from the custodial parent or guardian, represent the majority of
missing children. The IRS has information that could help solve many
of these cases, but taxpayer privacy laws prevent that information from
being used. The IRS is authorized to provide information to federal
investigators, but not to the state and local prosecutors who
investigate the majority of parental abduction cases.
A 2007 Treasury Department study
compared data for 1,731 family abduction cases with tax return data. In
520 instances, nearly one-third of the cases considered, the study’s
authors were able to match Social Security numbers of missing children
with Social Security numbers on tax returns. In about half of those
cases, the returns also provided new addresses for the children. The
abductors disclosed the children’s whereabouts in order to take
advantage of tax exemptions and credits.
Those 520 tax returns were never used to help locate the missing
children. A federal judge in Virginia refused to authorize the IRS to
release the information to investigators.
Hamstrung by the law, the IRS has been able to aid the families of
missing children only through its “Picture Them Home” program, which
places photos of missing children on printed returns (which are being
phased out as electronic filing becomes more common). That program has
helped locate only about 80 children since 2001. Those 80 happy endings
are just a small fraction of what the IRS could accomplish if it had
more freedom.
Fewer people would claim tax exemptions for abducted children if they
knew that information could be passed on to investigators, but some
would inevitably continue to hand over information to the IRS. Harold
Copus, a retired FBI agent, told The New York Times
that even under current laws it “doesn’t make a whole lot of sense”
that abductors report missing children on their tax returns. “But,” he
said, “If they were thinking clearly, they wouldn’t have abducted their
child in the first place.”
Dennis DeConcini, a former Democratic senator from Arizona, tried to
get the pertinent law changed in 2004, but the idea did not get off the
ground. According to DeConcini, other lawmakers worried that allowing
the IRS to release data to investigators would create a slippery slope
and eventually destroy taxpayer privacy.
There are worthy policy goals behind the taxpayer privacy laws. We
all have a legal and civic obligation to pay our fair share of running
the government. People are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and
have a right not to give testimony against themselves. If we strip
taxpayers of privacy protections, it is not clear how judges will react
when people start filing returns that contain nothing more than a name,
a Social Security number and a statement that the taxpayer is invoking
his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. These
claims, which are the sort of thing fringe-group tax protesters file
nowadays, might no longer be automatically thrown out of court. Besides
criminal matters, taxpaying citizens ought not to be forced to
disclose financial data to the government if the government might, in
turn, pass that data to creditors, employees, business partners, angry
spouses or jealous relatives.
But these arguments pale next to the agony and costs of child
abductions. An abducted child is torn from the parent or guardian who
should be part of their lives, often the person that courts have
specifically declared to be the best protector of that child. Parents
lose the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a child grow up. Parents
who have experienced such abductions often say the worst element is
simply not knowing that their children are safe, healthy and happy.
A new Congress will be seated shortly after New Year’s Day. When they
get to work, those 535 men and women should ask themselves one
question: If you had a child or grandchild whose whereabouts were
unknown to you, but known to the U.S. government, would you expect the
government to do what it could to reunite you?
When that question is answered, the law will be changed immediately.
And thousands of American lives will also be changed for the better.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-irs-can-reunite-families-if-we-let-it-2010-12#ixzz19fAB1tf9
to collect past-due child support, federal agency non-tax debts and
state income tax obligations. Yet when it comes to working with
investigators to reunite abducted children with their legal guardians,
the Service says “no can do.”
About 200,000 family abductions are reported annually in the United
States. These cases, in which a non-custodial relative illegally takes a
child from the custodial parent or guardian, represent the majority of
missing children. The IRS has information that could help solve many
of these cases, but taxpayer privacy laws prevent that information from
being used. The IRS is authorized to provide information to federal
investigators, but not to the state and local prosecutors who
investigate the majority of parental abduction cases.
A 2007 Treasury Department study
compared data for 1,731 family abduction cases with tax return data. In
520 instances, nearly one-third of the cases considered, the study’s
authors were able to match Social Security numbers of missing children
with Social Security numbers on tax returns. In about half of those
cases, the returns also provided new addresses for the children. The
abductors disclosed the children’s whereabouts in order to take
advantage of tax exemptions and credits.
Those 520 tax returns were never used to help locate the missing
children. A federal judge in Virginia refused to authorize the IRS to
release the information to investigators.
Hamstrung by the law, the IRS has been able to aid the families of
missing children only through its “Picture Them Home” program, which
places photos of missing children on printed returns (which are being
phased out as electronic filing becomes more common). That program has
helped locate only about 80 children since 2001. Those 80 happy endings
are just a small fraction of what the IRS could accomplish if it had
more freedom.
Fewer people would claim tax exemptions for abducted children if they
knew that information could be passed on to investigators, but some
would inevitably continue to hand over information to the IRS. Harold
Copus, a retired FBI agent, told The New York Times
that even under current laws it “doesn’t make a whole lot of sense”
that abductors report missing children on their tax returns. “But,” he
said, “If they were thinking clearly, they wouldn’t have abducted their
child in the first place.”
Dennis DeConcini, a former Democratic senator from Arizona, tried to
get the pertinent law changed in 2004, but the idea did not get off the
ground. According to DeConcini, other lawmakers worried that allowing
the IRS to release data to investigators would create a slippery slope
and eventually destroy taxpayer privacy.
There are worthy policy goals behind the taxpayer privacy laws. We
all have a legal and civic obligation to pay our fair share of running
the government. People are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and
have a right not to give testimony against themselves. If we strip
taxpayers of privacy protections, it is not clear how judges will react
when people start filing returns that contain nothing more than a name,
a Social Security number and a statement that the taxpayer is invoking
his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. These
claims, which are the sort of thing fringe-group tax protesters file
nowadays, might no longer be automatically thrown out of court. Besides
criminal matters, taxpaying citizens ought not to be forced to
disclose financial data to the government if the government might, in
turn, pass that data to creditors, employees, business partners, angry
spouses or jealous relatives.
But these arguments pale next to the agony and costs of child
abductions. An abducted child is torn from the parent or guardian who
should be part of their lives, often the person that courts have
specifically declared to be the best protector of that child. Parents
lose the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a child grow up. Parents
who have experienced such abductions often say the worst element is
simply not knowing that their children are safe, healthy and happy.
A new Congress will be seated shortly after New Year’s Day. When they
get to work, those 535 men and women should ask themselves one
question: If you had a child or grandchild whose whereabouts were
unknown to you, but known to the U.S. government, would you expect the
government to do what it could to reunite you?
When that question is answered, the law will be changed immediately.
And thousands of American lives will also be changed for the better.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-irs-can-reunite-families-if-we-let-it-2010-12#ixzz19fAB1tf9
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: The IRS Can Reunite Families, If We Let It
by alwaysbelieve Fri Dec 31, 2010 1:35 pm
I can't even comment on this because it has me literally fuming.
alwaysbelieve- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
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