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It's been known for a long time that there are police departments taking money from travelers, preferably out of state so they have a harder time fighting it, claiming that it was drug money. No evidence required, just the fact that you have several thousand dollars on your person or in your car is enough to have it taken. No trial. And you have to sue the government to get it back which will take a long time. They'll offer you a settlement, but you'll only get a small portion of the seized funds back.
Some departments use it to pad their budget or make up for budget shortfalls. But the beauty thing of this is that the money is split, so multiple agencies benefit.
It turns out that the IRS is doing the same thing.
If you deposit more than $10,000 in your bank, the bank is required by law to report it to the IRS as it could be proceeds from drug trafficking or money laundering. Guess what? If you deposit less than $10,000 on a regular basis, it can be interpreted as trying to evade the $10k limit and the IRS can swoop in and seize money from your account.
The article goes in to detail of the IRS taking over $60,000 from a retired military guy saving for his children's college education, over $400,000 from a small family business that sells candy and cigarettes which results in a lot of cash, and a woman who runs a small, cash-only, Mexican food restaurant.
In all cases no criminal charges were filed, in all cases they're fighting to get their money back. The problem is that you have to prove the money was earned honestly, and apparently having ledgers that would pass scrutiny is not enough: the business that lost $400k paid $25,000 for a forensic audit.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required/ar-BBbbfW3?ocid=mailsignout
Some departments use it to pad their budget or make up for budget shortfalls. But the beauty thing of this is that the money is split, so multiple agencies benefit.
It turns out that the IRS is doing the same thing.
If you deposit more than $10,000 in your bank, the bank is required by law to report it to the IRS as it could be proceeds from drug trafficking or money laundering. Guess what? If you deposit less than $10,000 on a regular basis, it can be interpreted as trying to evade the $10k limit and the IRS can swoop in and seize money from your account.
The article goes in to detail of the IRS taking over $60,000 from a retired military guy saving for his children's college education, over $400,000 from a small family business that sells candy and cigarettes which results in a lot of cash, and a woman who runs a small, cash-only, Mexican food restaurant.
In all cases no criminal charges were filed, in all cases they're fighting to get their money back. The problem is that you have to prove the money was earned honestly, and apparently having ledgers that would pass scrutiny is not enough: the business that lost $400k paid $25,000 for a forensic audit.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required/ar-BBbbfW3?ocid=mailsignout
