An IRS agent showed up at the door of a Marion County, Ohio, woman and lied about his reason for being there.
Once inside, the Internal Revnue Service agent, purporting to be named Bill Haus, began to harass and intimidate the taxpayer, according to a congressional report released Friday.
The woman called a lawyer, who told the IRS agent to leave the home since the taxpayer had gotten no prior notice of unpaid taxes.
“I am an IRS agent. I can be at and go into anyone’s house at any time I want to be,” responded the agent, who was using a phony name, according to the report from the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Under pressure from Congress, the IRS discontinued its policy of unannounced home visits in July.
The select subcommittee’s 22-page report is titled “Fighting the Weaponization of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS): The End of Abusive Unannounced Field Visits.”
The Ohio woman’s experience is one of several examples of IRS abuse included in the House panel’s report.
“After the taxpayer called the police, the revenue officer even filed a complaint against the police department,” the report says. “The IRS later confirmed that the taxpayer owed nothing and acknowledged the situation ‘never should have gotten this far.’”
Under Democrat control, Congress voted in August 2022 to boost IRS funding by $80 billion over 10 years. The funding increase prompted congressional Republicans to demand more oversight of the agency.
“This shocking abuse of power is a startling indication that the IRS believes it may do what it wants, when it wants,” the report says.
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