Pressured by Congress, the IRS has apologized for seizing banks accounts from otherwise law-abiding business owners simply because those owners structured bank transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements.
The alleged crime was that they routinely made bank deposits of less than $10,000. That allowed the business owners to avoid reporting requirements designed to catch drug dealers and money launderers.
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress Wednesday that the IRS is changing policies to prevent the seizures, as long as the money came from legal means.
By law, bank transactions above $10,000 must be reported to the IRS. It’s a felony to structure deposits to avoid the reporting requirement, even if the money is legally earned.
In some cases, the IRS seized and held bank accounts for years without bringing charges.
(AP)
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One Response
Yeah. When govt does it it’s an apology. If this wouldn’t have been the dreaded irs, it would’ve been considered theivery! They are thugs! They rob your money cause you didn’t deposit in a way they want you to. Seized your account?