[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IRS HOLDING UP REFUNDS OF SOME WHO FILE TAX RETURNS ELECTRONICALLY

  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the people the 
administration has targeted for help through the minimum wage. These 
people need help today because of the administration. I rise today in 
support of hardworking Americans everywhere who are being unjustly 
punished by the IRS.
  The IRS encourages people to file electronically. It saves time, 
paper, and mailing costs. Many Americans have utilized this service 
because it means they can get their refunds much faster. Companies that 
prepare taxes will make refund anticipation loans to people who file 
electronically. It is a simple way for hardworking people to get money 
owed them by our Government fast--and these people depend on that 
refund check.
  But in steps the IRS. The IRS has begun holding the refunds of those 
people who are filing electronically for the earned income tax credits. 
Our information is that the IRS is holding as many as 95 percent of 
those electronic filers seeking the earned income tax credit, in a 
supposed effort to cut down on fraud. These are people who do not make 
a lot of money and need those refund checks to get by. Their refunds 
are being held up to 2 months. They are unable to get refund loans from 
tax preparers because of the delay caused by the IRS. The IRS is 
creating a terrible problem for people who can afford it the least.
  Mr. Speaker, we are just beginning to learn the consequences of the 
IRS' irresponsible actions. My office has learned of instances where 
people have been evicted from their homes because they were expecting a 
refund check that has yet to come. The other side has spent a lot of 
time telling us of the plight of the low-income worker. Well, right 
now, there are low-income workers depending on the Clinton 
administration, depending on a check from the IRS to pay for food or 
rent or heat on this cold February morning--a check that the IRS is 
holding up.
  We live in an age where we depend on ever-expanding information 
technologies. In tax-filing, we encourage taxpayers to file 
electronically. We encourage people to use the information super 
highway. The Clinton administration has promoted the use of the 
information super highway. The Vice President has championed this as a 
step toward reinventing Government. Well, Mr. Vice President, I hope 
you are paying attention, because some of America's hardest working 
low-income workers have stepped out onto the information super highway, 
and have gotten run over by the IRS.
  Mr. Speaker, we all know that the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Traficant] 
has documented the abuses of the IRS. This is just one further example. 
I am willing to consider a flat tax if for no other reason than it 
would eliminate most all of the need for having an IRS. I call on the 
IRS to immediately release the refunds due those hard-working people 
who filed electronically and to act more responsibly in the future. To 
the IRS, I say this, ``You may be responsible for collecting taxes from 
the people, but that does not mean you are not responsible to the 
people.''


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