Nina Olson, Executive Director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights
Appearances
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump caves on tariffs: One economic indicator made even Trump realize he'd gone too far
No, I think this is unprecedented. You know, first, the attack on tax return information, the confidentiality of it. If there's one thing that all IRS employees and executives know, it's to keep that information confidential. Taxpayers file their returns confidential.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump caves on tariffs: One economic indicator made even Trump realize he'd gone too far
with the expectation that the IRS is going to abide by the law, which says tax return information is confidential unless Congress has carved out an exception. And that's drilled into you from day one. So that's the first thing that we're talking fast and loose about, you know, sharing information with all sorts of agencies and creating some kind of big database system.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump caves on tariffs: One economic indicator made even Trump realize he'd gone too far
in the sky that federal agencies can tap into. That will lead to taxpayers not being willing to share as much information as they are now because they're afraid that it might get into other agencies and have consequences. And then you see the reaction of the senior leadership of the IRS. First, the duly nominated and appointed commissioner steps down, even though he had a five-year term.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump caves on tariffs: One economic indicator made even Trump realize he'd gone too far
And then you have the acting commissioner step down. And now you have a second acting commissioner step down because of the desire for the tax return information to be shared with ICE, Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump caves on tariffs: One economic indicator made even Trump realize he'd gone too far
And it's not just the chief risk officer who stepped down or the chief privacy officer, but the head lawyer in the IRS who is who opines on and interprets the section of the Internal Revenue Code that deals with confidentiality. She has also stepped down. So the legal expert on this provision that is under attack has stepped down.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump caves on tariffs: One economic indicator made even Trump realize he'd gone too far
It's a criminal violation. And, you know, you referenced, you know, Nixon, a lot of people focus on the enemies list. But the other thing that happened that led to the current statute was that the agriculture department in the 70s asked for the tax returns of every single farmer in America. And that led to two or three congressional hearings, a huge outcry, like, why do you want this information?
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump caves on tariffs: One economic indicator made even Trump realize he'd gone too far
And that's what led to Congress enacting Section 6103, clawing the ownership, if you will, the decision making about how to keep, who gets tax return information. They put it squarely in Congress's hands and said, it's confidential unless we pass an exception to this. rather than the president being able to decide. Up to 1976, the president got to decide.