Saturday, May 16, 2015

IRS Reeling After Americans Smack Down Their Latest Tyrannical Move


VICTORY: IRS Reeling After Americans Smack Down Their Latest Tyrannical Move


It’s always good to see an honest American citizen fight back against the government and win.
That’s exactly what happened when the Internal Revenue Service seized more than $100,000 of Lyndon McClellon’s money in what the agency called a civil forfeiture matter — and then was forced to return it under public pressure.
McLellan, who had a bank account associated with his convenience store, discovered the account had been seized and never actually knew why.
The IRS used civil asset forfeiture laws to take McLellan’s money without ever convicting him of a crime or even charging him with any violation.
Designed to combat drug trafficking, structuring laws require banks to report deposits of $10,000 or more and they also require banks to report deposits just under $10,000 to avoid being reported.
The agency has been under fire for going after small business owners whose only crime is dealing with cash.
The IRS revised policies in 2014 but that did not help McLellan, who saw over $100,000 of his hard-earned money retained by the government (H/T The Daily Caller).
McLellan decided he wasn’t going to take this kind of government intrusion without a fight — and he decided to go public.
McLellan said he was threatened by U.S. Attorney Steve West, who told him going public would “only make things worse for him,” according to The Daily Caller.
If that’s not bad enough, West told McLellan going public “just ratchets up feelings in the agency. My offer is to return 50% of the money.”
McLellan ignored the ridiculous offer and took his story to the press anyway.
The IRS decided it did not want to mess with McLellan any longer and returned the $107,702 it had seized from him.
“The government cannot turn Lyndon’s life upside down and then walk away as if nothing happened,” Robert Everett Johnson, McLellan’s lawyer said in a statement.
“Lyndon should not have to pay for the government’s lapse in judgment. And the government certainly should not profit from its misbehavior by keeping the interest that it earned while holding Lyndon’s money. We’ll continue to litigate this case until the government makes Lyndon whole.”
Johnson is right — the IRS should not have the power to turn the lives of hard-working, law-abiding Americans upside-down.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

IRS tax code section 83a explains exactly how a pay check is to be taxed. It takes your pay out of gross income and places your pay for services rendered into your cost of doing business.
Tax Code § 83 applies to any and all compensation for personal services actually performed:
http://wevgov.com/01_pages/01_b_federal_income_tax.htm