Topic: Irs

Treasury Secretary Bessent faced intense questioning in Congress regarding why President Trump and his family appear to have immunity from IRS audits. Bessent's performance was described as nervous and evasive, with critics labeling the current Treasury Department as one of the most corrupt in history. The discussion also touches on the impact of inflation on hourly wages.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the Trump administration is scrapping a proposed $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund intended to compensate those "unfairly prosecuted" by the Biden administration. The move followed a revolt from Senate Republicans who feared the money would be used to pay January 6 rioters. Simultaneously, the administration finalized a deal barring IRS tax audits on the Trump family, which Democrats labeled "blanket immunity."

The hosts debunk media reports claiming Joe Rogan turned against Donald Trump over a "thug fund." They clarify that Rogan was actually discussing a legal settlement where the IRS is barred from auditing Trump's *past* tax filings due to previous illegal leaks. They criticize the media for taking Rogan's comments out of context to suggest Trump is immune from all future audits.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the creation of a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" intended to compensate individuals mistreated by the Biden Justice Department, including January 6 defendants. The fund was established as part of a settlement where Donald Trump dropped a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for a permanent ban on future audits of his family and businesses. While the administration frames it as reimbursement for legal fees, critics and some Republicans like John Thune have labeled it a "slush fund."

New proposed rules for Form 990 filings may require non-profits to disclose individual donors, a move that could impact organizations like the SPLC and Apple's charitable giving. Currently, donor identities are largely shielded from public view. The host, a long-time reader of Form 990s, notes that this change could be burdensome for large charities like Ronald McDonald House.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and Representative Ilhan Omar appeared on CBS to discuss a massive COVID-19 fraud scheme in Minnesota involving over $1 billion in stolen taxpayer funds. The IRS Criminal Investigations Unit is tracking the money, which was allegedly wire-transferred to the Middle East and Somalia. Omar defended her community, stating that the fraud was committed by a few individuals and that Somalis are also victims as taxpayers.

A correction was issued regarding the deductibility of mortgage interest and the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. While the 2017 tax bill limited SALT deductions to $10,000, mortgage interest remains deductible for loans up to $750,000 according to IRS Publication 936, contradicting a previous claim that the limit was $1 million.

The IRS announced a major policy shift allowing churches and houses of worship to endorse political candidates from the pulpit without losing their tax-exempt status. This effectively carves out an exemption to the 1954 Johnson Amendment, provided the communications occur through "usual channels" during religious services.

The debate over the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction continues, with Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York demanding a fix in exchange for his vote. The deduction primarily benefits high-tax Democratic states like California and New York, leading to arguments about whether residents of low-tax states like Texas are indirectly subsidizing them. The discussion also covers the impact of property taxes and the use of TurboTax formulas for IRS filings.

Investigations into federal efficiency revealed that the government has 4.6 million active credit cards for only 2.4 million employees. Additionally, the IRS was found to have 1,400 staff members dedicated solely to provisioning laptops and cell phones, a task that could theoretically be completed in one month. Concerns were also raised about the potential personal use of credit card reward points by government employees.

Protests organized by the Ethical Union took place across Europe, including a large gathering in Amsterdam's Dam Square to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Investigations into the American Ethical Union's tax filings reveal the organization is registered as a church, exempting it from certain IRS reporting requirements.

Technical experts warn that federal agencies like the Treasury and IRS rely on aging COBOL legacy systems maintained by "graybeard" programmers who are now retiring. There are concerns that DOGE's attempt to modernize these systems using AI-assisted coding will fail because large language models are not trained on COBOL. This technical friction could lead to significant delays in processing 2025 tax refunds.

The legality of NPR and PBS "underwriting" is questioned, with the hosts arguing it is a semantic workaround for prohibited commercial advertising. They cite a 2017 clip of an NPR executive admitting that sponsorship and advertising are essentially the same. The discussion explores how these payments might conflict with IRS rules for non-profit organizations and unrelated business income.

Former Missouri Congressman Billy Long has been selected to lead the Internal Revenue Service. Long, a professional auctioneer, famously used his auction-calling skills during a 2018 House hearing to drown out a protester. His appointment is viewed as a signal that the Trump administration intends to bring a different, perhaps more theatrical, approach to tax agency leadership.

The difficulty of removing personal information from public databases is highlighted, noting that property records and address histories are easily accessible unless held in a trust. Personal anecdotes describe being placed on secondary screening lists at airports due to name similarities and a case of IRS identity theft where a different individual with the same name in Kansas City owed back taxes.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presented a detailed Bitcoin policy at the Nashville conference, proposing to move the government's 200,000 Bitcoin to the Treasury as a strategic asset. He pledged to direct the Treasury to purchase 550 Bitcoin daily until a 4-million-coin reserve is established. Additionally, Kennedy proposed making transactions between Bitcoin and the U.S. dollar non-reportable and exempt from capital gains taxes.

The episode wraps up with a musical mix by Sir Chris Wilson titled "Blame it on the Glitch," satirizing the media's tendency to use the word "glitch" to describe major systemic failures. The segment highlights various news clips where the term was used to downplay issues ranging from IRS computer crashes to denied military benefits.

The IRS is investigating whether Donald Trump used a tax loophole to double-dip on losses related to the Trump Tower in Chicago. Reports from the New York Times and ProPublica suggest the former president may owe $100 million in back taxes following an audit of his 2008 filings.

Senator John Kennedy grilled Zorka Milin of the FACT Coalition during a hearing on corporate tax avoidance. Kennedy repeatedly pressed Milin to name specific American corporations she considers "tax cheats," leading to a circular exchange where she cited Apple and Microsoft but hesitated to use the word "cheat." The hosts mock the "showboating" nature of the hearing and note that Milin's own organization is behind on its tax filings.

A professor at the American University in Paris claims Donald Trump has been "captured" by a Christian nationalist movement involving the Heritage Foundation and evangelical churches. The discussion notes that the Johnson Amendment in the IRS tax code prohibits pastors from advising congregations on how to vote from the pulpit.