Fraud in home buyers' tax program includes IRS employees and 4-year-olds

I can't wait to see the myriad of scams erupt in healthcare reform. It's all downhill from here. All that remains of this country is waste water -- a giant cesspool of corruption.

By Dina ElBoghdady
Washington Post Staff Writer

Hundreds of millions of dollars may have been paid to people who fraudulently or mistakenly took advantage of a lucrative tax credit for first-time home buyers, including some who were employees of the Internal Revenue Service and even children, an IRS watchdog told a House panel on Thursday.

The findings, documented in a report by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, come as debate heats up in Congress over whether to extend the $8,000 tax credit beyond its Nov. 30 deadline.

While the report alarmed lawmakers, supporters of the tax credit on Capitol Hill pressed forward with efforts to keep the refund alive. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is working on a proposal to extend the full $8,000 credit for four months and then gradually phase it out by the end of next year, according to his office.

Meanwhile, experts who are closely tracking the existing program say it's unlikely that the report released Thursday will undermine efforts to extend the credit given the bipartisan support it has received, especially from lawmakers representing states heavily hit by foreclosures. These lawmakers say the tax credit has helped boost home sales.

"There are simply too many Democrats and Republicans that want to see this program extended for it to get derailed by the inspector general's report," said Jaret Seiberg, a policy analyst at Washington Research Group.

4-year-olds claimed credit

The report found that more than 19,300 people claimed a total of $139 million on their 2008 tax returns before purchasing a home even though the law requires the purchase to take place first, J. Russell George, the inspector general, told a House Ways and Means subcommittee.

Nearly 74,000 buyers -- including some IRS employees -- claimed a total of $500 million in tax credits despite indications that they may have owned a home before, George said. The law bans people from getting this credit if they have owned a home in the previous three years.

Even children claimed the tax credit, said George, adding that 580 taxpayers under age 18 -- including some 4-year-olds -- claimed $4 million, presumably so their parents could dodge the income limitations imposed by the program.

George went on to criticize the IRS for not requiring buyers to attach documents that verify when they purchased their homes, something his office has been advocating. The IRS's deputy commissioner for services and enforcement, Linda E. Stiff, said the agency does not have the ability to accept such documents electronically, nor does it have the legal authority to disallow a claim if the documents are not attached, which would make such a requirement moot. Lawmakers indicated they would look into granting that authority.

Both Stiff and George said that there's a chance that some of the suspicious tax credit claims may prove to be legitimate once they are more thoroughly examined.

About 1.4 million households have claimed nearly $10 billion in tax credits as of Aug. 22, and about 60 percent of them had adjusted gross income of less than $50,000, according to a Government Accountability Office report also released Thursday.

Stiff said all those claims have been resubmitted through a computer filter designed to catch potential problems. As a result, the IRS has identified more than 160 potential tax credit schemes that have resulted in scores of criminal investigations, and the agency has selected for reexamination 107,000 claims, some of which have been frozen. More...