The IRS took millions from bank accounts with ‘seize first, question later’ policy

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Just one more reason to get rid of income tax and the IRS.

The IRS took millions from bank accounts with ‘seize first, question later’ policy



More reassuring news regarding the IRS: last week’s report from the libertarian Institute for Justice details how the agency seizes millions of dollars from private bank accounts without ever charging its owners with a crime.

Federal law requires banks to disclose transactions above $10,000 to the IRS, while federal “structuring” law makes it illegal to intentionally deposit or withdraw just shy of $10,000 in order to skirt those disclosures. And thanks to civil forfeiture law, the IRS need only suspect something illegal to be going on with private property in order to seize it. Owners must then prove their innocence if they want to recover their assets.

According to IJ’s report, titled “Seize First, Question Later,” the IRS has increasingly begun seizing assets over alleged structuring violations—in 2012, they engaged in five times as many structuring-related seizures as they did in 2005.

Between 2005 and 2012, they seized over $242 million from over 2,500 cases. This led to a 166 percent increase in their forfeiture profits.

Read more at http://redalertpolitics.com/2015/02/09/irs-took-millions-bank-accounts-seize-first-question-later-policy/#PVvH0KGwowpBwOMH.99