Justice Department will not seek criminal charges in IRS investigation
DOJ officials announced Friday that they would not seek criminal charges in a long-running inquiry into whether the IRS and former official Lois Lerner targeted conservative groups, including the Tea Party, for increased scrutiny in applications for tax-exempt status. Ref. USAToday
The IRS employees tax manual has instructions for collecting taxes after a nuclear war.
Taxpayers delayed by IRS e-filing breakdown on deadline day to get extensions, agency says. The Internal Revenue Service's online system for submitting tax returns experienced widespread failures on Tuesday, complicating filing for the millions of taxpayers attempting to meet the government's midnight deadline. Source 7v.
IRS to waive penalties for taxpayers who withheld too little of their pay in 2018. The agency said it won’t penalize taxpayers for under-withholding last year because they were uncertain how Trump's tax changes would affect them. The waiver will be available to taxpayers who withheld or made estimated payments totaling at least 85 percent of what they owe. Source 2g.
In case you missed it: Tax refunds are coming in smaller this year by an average of $170. The average tax refund issued so far fell to $1,865, down 8.4 percent from $2,035 at the same time last year, the Internal Revenue Service reported. Tax professionals have been warning that refunds could be smaller than expected if people didn't adjust their paycheck withholdings after the new tax law changes. Ref. USAToday.