[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 144 (Thursday, October 23, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H9043-H9044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GROSS ABUSE AT IRS

  (Mrs. LINDA SMITH of Washington asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. LINDA SMITH of Washington. Madam Speaker, the American people 
were treated to quite a spectacle last week. Year after year, we have 
heard

[[Page H9044]]

complaints from citizens about heavy-handed tactics of the IRS, gross 
abuse of power and politically motivated tax audits. Finally, we are 
treated to a public hearing of these accusations. The only surprise is 
that things are even worse than we thought.
  IRS stories are nothing new. I worked in this field for 15 years 
preparing tax returns. I had to live through many of these horrors with 
families. Everyone has got one, someone who has had their whole life 
turned upside down by an IRS agent who cannot tell the difference 
between a tax cheat, the little guy who has made an honest mistake, and 
an ordinary citizen trying as best they can to comply with an 
incredibly complicated Tax Code that even IRS experts, from my 
experience, do not understand.
  We need to clean up the system and simplify it.

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