Paging Everett Dirkson: What's a Billion Among Friends?

NOTE: My apologies for the long period between posts.

A report by the Treasury's Inspector General indicating that the Internal Revenue Service turned down the TIGTA's recommendation to freeze refunds on taxpayers with potentially invalid Earned Income Credits brings to mind the quip from former Senate Minority Leader Dirkson (R-IL) during the 1960s--"a billion here, a billion there and soon you are talking real money." TIGTA claimed that the EIC is vulnerable to fraud and that the IRS needs to take better advantage of third-party data and to improve procedures for checking EIC claims.

While understanding that the IRS has numerous expectations placed on it by the Washington powers-that-be, treating potential fraud with the EIC as a minor problem is not a satisfactory solution. Put another way, the IRS response here, if seen on a tax return audited by a revenue agent, would be at risk of a negligence and possibly even constructive fraud penalty.