One instance revealed that, without prior knowledge, an IRS agent conducted an unannounced field visit at the home of an Ohio taxpayer. The agenet then used a fake alias and deceived the taxpayer about his purpose for appearing at her home. When the taxpayer's attorney demanded the agent to leave, he defiantly stated, "I am an IRS agent, I can be at and go into anyone's house at any time I want to be." The agent then threatened to put a lien on the taxpayer's home and freeze her assets if she did not immediately give the IRS a substantial amount of money, even though the IRS later confirmed that the taxpayer owed nothing.
The agent's supervisor later admitted that the situation "never should have gotten this far."
According to new lawsuits, it has revealed that IRS employees and agency counsel willfully submitted falsified tax forms to the United States Tax Court and then lied about it to levy $15 million in penalties. The conduct was only revealed due to a FOIA lawsuit, which exposed how IRS personnel deceptively backdated the approval date of the penalties by four-and-a-half months to make it appear the agency met the deadline.
Mike