Confidential Taxpayer Documents Released to White House by the IRS

The IRS is required by law to keep taxpayer information confidential…right. But somehow, when the White House asks for that confidential information, the law no longer matters. And how big a deal is it – well it just got a lot bigger.

The Inspector General (IG) for the Department of the Treasury is the watchdog for the IRS. And the IG just revealed that over 2,400 pages of documents containing confidential taxpayer information were sent to the White House recently. Why? Well, that’s not a question that’s been answered yet but the speculation says they were requested. And the irony is that this all emerged when a private organization (Cause of Action) asked for the records under a Freedom of Information request. When the IRS refused to disclose the information, Cause of Action filed a lawsuit and the IG was forced to get involved.

So why does the White House need tax returns for individuals and businesses? Well, that’s another unanswered question at this point. But this points to repeated use of the IRS by the White House as a means to gain otherwise confidential information about individual taxpayers.

While we wait for the rest of the story to emerge on this new, and disturbing revelation, one thing appears evident: Public confidence and trust in the IRS is not likely to be increasing any time soon. And concerns about the potential abuse of information will likely increase as well.