IRS News of the Weird: This Tax Season has bought on the wildest Tax Schemes and dramatic Tax Events in recent history. Joe Stack, sick of the IRS, flew his small plane into an IRS Building; Terry Hoskins bulldozed his home to the ground to prevent the IRS from seizing it, and inmates in a Florida prison managed to scam the IRS out of $1 Million.
Joe Stack and the IRS Plane Crash
Joe Stack, A software engineer furious with the IRS, plowed his small plane into an office building housing nearly 200 federal tax employees on February 11, 2010. The crash has injured many and killed one person. The terrorist attack was politically motivated. In his suicide note, Joe Stack attacks the IRS stating that he was outraged at loopholes that benefit large corporations and the Catholic Church, but not average Americans. He claimed that the IRS cost him "$40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0."
Terry Hoskins Bulldozes his home to Prevent IRS Seizure
In Ohio, Terry Hoskins stugged to keep the bank from closing on his $350,000 home. He has alreayd had problems with the IRS for years, with the IRS placing liens on his carpet store and commercial property. The bank claimed his house as collateral.
Terry Hoskins said he owes $160,000 on his home, but he had finally had enough of spending money on attorneys to save it. “When I see I owe $160,000 on a home valued at $350,000, and someone decides they want to take it – no, I wasn’t going to stand for that, so I took it down,” Hoskins said.
Inmates in a Florida Jail make the IRS Their personal ATM
Detainees at a South Florida county jail are being accused of scamming the Internal Revenue Service by filing for fraudulent refunds and taking in as much as $100,000. About 50 inmates from the Stock Island Detention Center in Key West were allegedly involved.
The detainees allegedly used a standard IRS form to claim bogus refunds, filing for about $1 million in all. Most of the requested refunds were for about $5,000. Many checks were sent directly to the jail.
The scheme was discovered after a how-to note was found in an inmate's cell.
Lessons to learn: These dramatic events were completely unnecessary. There's no fighting the system, you come out the loser. There's no winning when you scam the IRS. You have to pay your taxes if you want to avoid IRS issues. Heed the warnings of these stories, file and pay your taxes on time to this year.