The IRS gets in on the big secrecy game

Man, these stories get depressing. The administration steps up the war on accountability in yet another way.

(. . .)New York Times reporter David Cay Johnston has just produced a pair of must-read stories about the way the Internal Revenue Service works under George W. Bush.

In the first of the stories, Johnston reports that the IRS has stopped releasing information that shows "how thoroughly" it audits "big corporations and the rich" and how deeply it discounts the taxes it assesses after such audits. For decades, Johnston says, the IRS has made this information available to a Syracuse University professor who has, in turn, made it available to the public. But in May 2004, the IRS said it would no longer provide this information, despite a 1976 court order that required it to do so. (. . .)

Speaking of which , Johnston's second story hits another subject that the IRS would probably rather not have the public discussing: The IRS's taxpayer advocate, Nina Olson, told Congress this week that the agency has devoted what Johnston calls "vastly more resources to pursuing questionable refunds sought by the poor -- which under the highest estimate is $9 billion -- than to the $100 billion in taxes not paid each year by people who work for cash and either fail to file tax returns or understate their income."

I don't think I've ever heard the phrase 'small game hunters' before, but why the IRS would torment the poor over a few bucks rather than pursuing wealthy tax cheats seems to be a good example.