IRS agent cheats on taxes and real estate
Filed under: Real Estate, Ripoffs and Scams, Tax
In a story seemed destined for a "ripped from the headlines" murder case on Law & Order, a Diamond Bar, Calif. IRS agent has plead guilty to cheating on his taxes.
Jim H. Liu, 43, an audit employee of the Internal Revenue Service, admitted to one federal count of subscribing to a tax return Monday, and will be sentenced to up to three years in federal lockdown as a result.
Worst of all is how Liu cheated: he claimed a $4,200 loss on the 2002 sale of a property in Pomona, when he in fact earned a profit of $48,000; which would have netted the government about $14,000 in taxes. He may have admitted his error gracefully when he was audited and paid up; but instead, he forged documents to say the property had been purchased for $231,500, instead of the actual price of $185,000.
You'd think an IRS agent would know better than to lie to the government once he'd been confronted. But no. (Here's a freebie for the Law & Order writers: Liu kills a co-worker who sees him forging the purchase documents, staging it to look like a suicide due to overwork. You like?)
Silly Liu. If he'd just waited until now to sell the property, he could have gotten his wish; he could have sold the property for a big loss and claimed away.
Jim H. Liu, 43, an audit employee of the Internal Revenue Service, admitted to one federal count of subscribing to a tax return Monday, and will be sentenced to up to three years in federal lockdown as a result.
Worst of all is how Liu cheated: he claimed a $4,200 loss on the 2002 sale of a property in Pomona, when he in fact earned a profit of $48,000; which would have netted the government about $14,000 in taxes. He may have admitted his error gracefully when he was audited and paid up; but instead, he forged documents to say the property had been purchased for $231,500, instead of the actual price of $185,000.
You'd think an IRS agent would know better than to lie to the government once he'd been confronted. But no. (Here's a freebie for the Law & Order writers: Liu kills a co-worker who sees him forging the purchase documents, staging it to look like a suicide due to overwork. You like?)
Silly Liu. If he'd just waited until now to sell the property, he could have gotten his wish; he could have sold the property for a big loss and claimed away.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-03-2009 @ 2:43PM
Jeff said...
Hmmmm...just GOTTA ask: since he was an audit employee, how many honest taxpayers did he put the screws to (possibly jeopardizing their health) conducting his audits?
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4-03-2009 @ 4:23PM
Fred said...
It's amazing that the current head of the Treasury cheated with his taxes and he kept his job!
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4-03-2009 @ 3:06PM
L'lynn said...
Why am I not surprised.
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4-03-2009 @ 3:08PM
John said...
Interesting how some can get away with NOT paying taxes and still stay a politician but you or I and even an IRS agent goes to jail. JUSTICE?
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4-06-2009 @ 2:06PM
Jim said...
depends on your politics and how well your connected, and it would appear on who you gave money for their political career.
kinda irritating but it looks like thats the way the cookie crumbles. Did you give to Chris Dodd or the banking queen.?
Those two ought to be in jail, but it seems that no matter what you do, if your a democrat anything goes.
4-03-2009 @ 3:23PM
biohazd said...
NOT TO WORRY, OBAMAMAMA WILL FIND HIM A CABINET POSITION!!!!!!!
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4-03-2009 @ 4:33PM
Sandy said...
Ditto
4-03-2009 @ 6:33PM
Wil. said...
How is this odd when the head of the IRS, plus some fine "upstanding" members of Congress and the Cabinet, have done the same?
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4-03-2009 @ 3:28PM
CallMeLater said...
Sounds like he would be a good candidate for the senate. Cold, cruel, heartless, conniving, cheating, self-serving.... If he can read a teleprompter, he could be president.
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4-03-2009 @ 3:49PM
RACHEL said...
actually Irs employees are held to a higher standerd
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4-03-2009 @ 4:28PM
Quadia said...
"IRS employees are held to a higher standard?" I trust that was a tongue-in-cheek comment? In my opinion, their boss is setting the example.
4-03-2009 @ 4:19PM
Quadia said...
Maybe he was auditioning for a place in the new administration? He'd fit right in with the IRS chief and Cabinet and Congressmen. He should have gotten advice from Dodd. You think if we citizens demanded that all government employees (state and federal) pay their taxes FIRST before we pay ours, we'd get anywhere (besides arrested for failure to pay taxes)? Nah. Didn't think so.
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4-03-2009 @ 5:02PM
charles said...
Good training before arriving is a prerequisite to becoming a "high position" politician. He was only trying to make it to the top, like Tim Geithner. I would love to audit every politician in the U.S. Government. We could most likely "balance the budget" with the penalties, interest and of course, principle owed by them all.
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4-05-2009 @ 8:52AM
Hamid Abdul-malik said...
They so much want to be Citizens of these USA countries and when they get here they already have been told to go for the money ya their country tell's them they have the money over there.
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4-06-2009 @ 10:33AM
Peter Kehoe said...
Well, in the paragraph second after the photo insets, it says he claimed the property was sold for 231,000 instead of the actual price of 185,000. If he was a cheat, wouldn't it have been the other way around? Sounds like he was claiming s profit not a loss.
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4-05-2009 @ 9:02PM
Tyggie said...
If IRS employees are held to a higher standard, how come they owe 3.2 billion in outstanding taxes?
I work for a tax attorney, we defend people every day that these "audit" employees abuse. They misapply the law and disallow valid deductions without any basis in either logic or the code. The corruption is rampant and goes all the way up.
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4-05-2009 @ 9:17PM
patricia A. Curtis said...
I'm with post @ 4. They have mercy and pity on the likes of their own, ie, Datzle, and others...they give a pass...but if it were me or any other hard working person they wouldn't give a crap....
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4-05-2009 @ 10:03PM
rocky said...
many republicans replied here - all bitter - I guess those last long horrible 8 years were so good for you .... lol.
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4-06-2009 @ 11:30AM
T said...
Do any of you blame him? Heck, the US gov. takes more than it should from us as it is. The attorneys that are running Washington are creating taxes for their never ending spending spree. Folks, remember, it was not until WWII until Income Taxes were created for the war debt. Hey Washington, that war is over! Give us our money back!
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4-05-2009 @ 11:26PM
Eugene said...
IRS employees are held to a higher standard: Google "10 deadly sins" and IRS. IRS employees have to get their taxes right every year. Only the head of the IRS (the Commissioner) can mitigate the penalty of being fired, and employees are suspended without pay or terminated each year. As you might expect, IRS employees have a better record of paying their taxes than other Federal employees. The Treasury Secretary (over the IRS) is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and isn't subject to the standards for the IRS employees. Every government agency has its area of sensitivity, and, of course, taxes are IRS's. Employment is stable, some are well-paid, but none will get rich on the salary.
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