50 Interesting Facts About IRS

Here are 50 interesting IRS facts.

1-5 IRS Facts

1. Scientology obtained their tax exemption from the IRS by having P.I.s dig into the personal lives of IRS managers and initiating hundreds of lawsuits against IRS employees. Eventually, Scientology offered to drop all suits for religious tax exemption and the US government caved. – Source

2. The IRS requires you to declare sources of illegal income (i.e selling drugs) but they can’t prosecute you for the activity. – Source

3. The IRS ranks higher than Comcast in terms of customer satisfaction. – Source

4. When Willie Nelson’s assets were auctioned by the IRS, fans bought the items and gave them back to Willie. – Source

5. Willie Nelson released an album in 1992 specifically made to pay off his debts to the IRS, entitled ‘The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories?’ – Source

6-10 IRS Facts

6. Will Smith owed $2.8 Million to the IRS and almost went bankrupt, just before he signed the contract for The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. – Source

7. In 1987, 7 million American children vanished. Cause? The IRS started requiring the Social Security Numbers of dependents on tax forms. – Source

8. The IRS has instructions for employees on how to collect taxes after a nuclear war. – Source

9. Medals won by US Olympians are considered earned income and therefore subjected to an IRS taxation – up to 39%. – Source

10. The IRS defined the complexity of the tax code as the #1 most serious problem facing taxpayers. – Source

11-15 IRS Facts

11. The IRS had to use a special computer to process Bill Gates’ taxes because “their normal computers can’t deal with the numbers.”  – Source

12. Those companies advertising, “settle your IRS debt for pennies on the dollar” are basically charging you a fee to fill out a form to apply for a government program they hope you don’t know about. – Source

13. The IRS seized 100k of a man’s money for suspecting him of illegal activity even though they couldn’t prove it and refused to give it back. – Source

14. The IRS seized $33,000 from the checking account of a cash-only restaurant owner because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report. – Source

15. A “mail-order church” fought the IRS for tax-exempt status for 17 years. Status was granted in 2000. In 2007, the “church” earned $6 million per month, mostly by targeting low-income and elderly persons who were told that donations are required to have their prayers answered. – Source

16-20 IRS Facts

16. The IRS has tax rules about how to claim your child as a dependent if they have been kidnapped. – Source

17. Every quarter, the IRS publishes a list of people who willfully revoke their citizenship. And the list is sharply growing. – Source

18. In 2001, the IRS estimated the tax gap, the difference between what is legally owed and the amount actually collected, was $345 billion. – Source

19. A man crashed a plane into an IRS building in 2010 in Austin Texas, but the story never got much national coverage. Here is the story and suicide note. – Source

20. The RHM Trust Bank was a fake bank set up by the IRS in the 90s to launder drug money and catch drug traffickers. – Source

21-25 IRS Facts

21. If you accept a bribe, the IRS requires you include it in your income when you file your taxes. – Source

22. In 2011 the IRS sent $46,378,040 in refunds to 23,994 different people at the same address in Atlanta, Ga. They also sent 11,284 refunds worth a combined $2,164,976 to another Atlanta address that very same year. – Source

23. According to IRS rules, hair donations to organizations like Locks of Love are not tax deductible. – Source

24. The “Sovereign Citizen” movement–where people claim they are not answerable to any court in the US–is so common that the IRS can fine you up to $5000 for trying to use that argument in court. – Source

25. If you are owed a refund, there is no penalty for filing late with the IRS. – Source