Senator Roberts Presses IRS Commissioner Koskinen on Gift Tax Enforcement; Remains Concerned about Targeting Scandal

WASHINGTON, DC -- At a hearing today of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) questioned Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen about the agency's questionable enforcement of the gift tax on individuals who made contributions to certain tax-exempt organizations suggesting it was further selective targeting of taxpayers based on their political ideology.

"For nearly 30 years, the IRS did not apply the gift tax to contributions made to charitable organizations of any type," Roberts said. "Beginning in 2011, at the same time it began targeting 501 (c)(4) applicants, the IRS began gift tax audits of individuals who had made contributions to various tax-exempt organizations.

"I want to know what the IRS or the Congress can do to ensure the agency will not further intimidate taxpayers based on political ideology with the selective enforcement of the gift tax."

In 2011, Senator Roberts and then Finance Committee Ranking Member Senator Orrin Hatch and others sent a letter to IRS questioning the sudden enforcement of the gift tax.

While the IRS has since ceased auditing contributions, it has failed to provide further guidance to Congress about the future enforcement of the gift tax and (c)(4) organizations.

Senator Roberts is outspoken on the need to clean up the IRS following the targeting scandal and the revelation of inappropriate bonuses and performance awards to IRS employees who owe outstanding federal tax debt.

Last month Roberts introduced two bills to address the problems. First, the "Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act" would require federal employees to be current on their federal income taxes, and would prevent federal personnel who are delinquent in paying a federal tax liability from receiving a bonus or cash award. Exceptions are made for tax debt being paid pursuant to an agreement with the IRS and for certain hardships.

The second bill, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act would stop cold further attempts by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to exploit bureaucratic loopholes to restrict the free speech rights of the same types of tax-exempt social welfare organizations victimized in the IRS political targeting scandal.

Senators Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance.

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