Republicans seek new rules for IRS
Republicans are moving to shine a spotlight on the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) targeting of conservative groups in the days leading up to Tax Day this year.
The House will move on measures next week allowing the IRS greater ability to fire employees who used their positions for political ends, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) said in the GOP’s weekly address.
“We must address the people’s misgivings with the IRS itself,” Boustany said. “This agency still operates in the shadow of a scandal in which it admitted to targeting organizations based on their political beliefs.”
{mosads}Former IRS official Lois Lerner, who acknowledged the agency improperly scrutinized conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, won’t face charges on the issue. Lerner, like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was found to have used personal email for official business.
Boustany said Republicans will also work on legislation prohibiting IRS employees from using personal email accounts for official business and increase appeals powers for groups seeking tax-exempt status.
Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Ways and Means Committee, on which Boustany sits, marked up the measures last month before Congress went on a two-week recess, which ends Monday.
Boustany suggested the IRS’s reputation of independence was toxic without it “coming clean” on its targeting of Tea Party groups, which it revealed in 2013.
The Louisiana representative, who called for simplifying the tax code, also alluded to additional legislation beyond what the House passed earlier this year increasing the annual amount of property that could be expensed, like capital upgrades and newer equipment, from $25,000 to $500,000.
“We’re also going to act to provide more tax relief for American families. This is in addition to legislation we’ve already passed to provide permanent tax relief to small businesses, a move that would help create nearly 200,000 jobs,” he said.
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