Wednesday December 21, 2022 – There has been much talk in recent weeks about Republicans’ efforts to cut funding to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). While Republicans are hailing the 2 percent reduction in IRS funding, taxpayers must understand how insignificant this cut is. Remember the Inflation Reduction Act added $80 Billion to the IRS budget over the next decade. This money will be used by the IRS to hire 87,000 new agents and expand its services. The aim of this legislation is to increase enforcement against taxpayers.

Republicans opposed the Inflation Reduction Act because they felt that it would give too much power to an already powerful agency. They argued that giving additional resources to the IRS could lead to increased government intrusion into citizens’ lives and that any cuts should be offset by reducing other spending in order to help control government spending overall.

Giving additional resources to the IRS will mean increased enforcement of tax rules and regulations. This translates into more audits and investigations as well as higher penalties for those who fail to comply with rules or pay their taxes on time.

Attorney Steven A. Leahy keeps you informed about changes in taxation laws and policies so that you can remain compliant with all regulations and Fight Back Now! Against future IRS increases. The Republican “cut” doesn’t affect the IRA funding whatsoever. All that on Today’s Tax Talk

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/20/hagerty-manchin-propose-10000-threshold-for-venmo-paypal-tax-reporting-change-up-from-600.html

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen-rand-paul-mocks-massive-trillion-omnibus-bill-hazardous-debt

Tuesday December 20, 2022 – Should our government make rules for issues and areas they don’t understand? The answer to that question isn’t really an issue. Because, if government should or shouldn’t doesn’t matter. Government does.

The latest example is cryptocurrency and blockchain. Government has come late to the game – don’t really understand the issues but want to hurry through regulations to control it. With the recent collapse if FTX, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) suggested banning the cryptocurrency market and then acknowledging banning crypto will not work.

Attorney Steven A. Leahy looks at the latest moves to regulate crypto on Today’s Tax Talk.

Wednesday December 14, 2022 – Remember last year when Pro Publica revealed the confidential tax information of some of the wealthiest Americans? Remember how the IRS pledged to “get to the bottom” of the crime and expose those who violated the law. Well, that never happened. Those criminals are still at large, and probably still working for the IRS.

One of those Wealthy Americans is Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel. Mr. Griffin has given up waiting for action from the IRS, he filed a federal lawsuit naming the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Treasury as defendants.

The Complaint alleges the IRS violated its “legal obligations to safeguard and protect his information from unauthorized disclosure,” and willfully and intentionally failing to “establish appropriate administrative, technical or physical safeguards”

Further, the complaint states “IRS personnel exploited the IRS’s willful failure to establish adequate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for the IRS’s data and records systems to misappropriate confidential tax return information for the highest earning U.S. taxpayers, including Mr. Griffin, and then unlawfully disclosed those materials to ProPublica for publication.”

Attorney Steven A. Leahy reviews this story on Today’s Tax Talk.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-ken-griffin-irs-tax-lawsuit-20221214-grpig6lzonegtgxuzi6flw7cbe-story.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/12/14/ken-griffin-sues-irs-leak-propublica/10894958002/

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/13/billionaire-ken-griffin-sues-irs-over-tax-disclosure.html

CryptoTuesday December 13, 2022 – As we approach the end of 2022 Crypto News seems to be all negative. Many are asking, “Is this the end of Crypto?”

What is the answer? In my opinion, there are two certainties. One – Crypto is here to stay. Two – There will be much more regulation in this sector.

Holders of crypto have taken huge losses: More than $2 trillion in market cap have disappeared. While Bitcoin is down 75% off its peak, it is still up 4x from December 2018. Ethereum, the second most popular coin, is up more than 1000% over that same time frame.

Attorney Steven A. Leahy talks Crypto on Today’s Tax Talk.

https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/cryptocurrency/whats-next-for-cryptocurrency-after-the-collapse-of-ftx