[EL] IRS Chief Counsel involvement a "bombshell"?

[David Keating]

Thank you for that information and helpful perspective on internal IRS "operations."

It is a bombshell to the public, and it ought to be.  Noonan is not saying anything is proved by this new info, just that the investigation needs to follow this to the end and figure out what happened and why.

Consider how the story has changed over time.  From a bunch of supposedly overworked IRS employees who goofed in Cincinnati to an office run by one of only two political appointees in the IRS.  That is why people get so upset.  I initially thought, it's probably typical IRS procrastination combined with ridiculously vague rules on political activity at work here.  Now I really have no idea.

Even if it is innocent bureaucratic incompetence - meaning it got kicked upstairs and sat, forever, with no one knowing about it -- that is still horrible.  Yes, EO cases do not improve, unlike wine.  Where is the outrage Paul?  This is not an acceptable situation even if the targeting had never happened.  But it did happen and if it was innocent delay to get a resolution, which far from clear, it is an outrage it happened to such a large class of similar groups.  (That people no longer bother for PLRs is ridiculous too.)

Our tax system, the IRS and fair play all require a full investigation and it clearly has a long way to go.  It is very disheartening to see so many in Congress and the media look for ways to end the investigation, excuse it or bury it instead of trying to figure out what really happened.

David
_________________________________________________
David Keating | President | Center for Competitive Politics
124 S. West Street, Suite 201 | Alexandria, VA 22314
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From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Ellen Aprill
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2013 2:22 PM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] IRS Chief Counsel involvement a "bombshell"?

The Office of Chief Counsel serves as the lawyer to the enforcement side of the IRS (what we tax lawyers call the Commissioner's side).  It is the job of the Office of Chief Counsel to provide advice when the Commissioner's people, including the EO Division needs legal advice on difficult issues.  Such consultation often delays the process.  Also, the Chief Counsel is a political appointee, subject to Senate confirmation, but others in the office, who generally stay many years, are not. The current Chief Counsel, Bill Wilkins, a former chair of the ABA Tax Section and with many years of experience on the Hill as well as in private practice, is highly respected by tax lawyers on both side of the political aisle. (Full disclosure - he is a personal friend.)

With the permission of Paul Streckfus, I quote below what Paul had to say about Chief Counsel involvement yesterday in his EO Tax Journal (subscription required):

I've noted in these pages that Lois was a cautious bureaucrat. As such, she must have recognized the sensitivity of these tea party cases. In these circumstances, it was only natural that she would want to have the Office of Chief Counsel (Counsel) involved in these cases. We'd probably be criticizing her now if she had not gotten Counsel involved.

I have also noted in these pages that Counsel is notorious for sitting on cases of whatever description. The slow-moving attorneys in Counsel are more than a bottleneck -- they are the cork in the bottle. Unlike wine, EO cases do not age well. I've said before Lois was not well served by the glacial pace of attorneys in Counsel.

Lois' caution and Counsel's procrastination are why private letter rulings take so long and why most attorneys have even given up seeking them. Same for technical advice.

  Ellen
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Ellen P. Aprill
John E. Anderson Professor of Tax Law
Loyola Law School
919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
213-736-1157<tel:213-736-1157>



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