April 01,2003

Grassley on IRS Progress in Fighting Tax Scams

M E M O R AN D U M

To: Reporters and Editors
Re: Progress in Fighting Tax Scams
Da: Tuesday, April 1, 2003

Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, today convened a hearing on
key consumer issues during the tax filing season. During that hearing, Dale Hart of the Internal
Revenue Service testified about the IRS’ progress in fighting tax avoidance schemes, scams and cons. Over the past few years, Grassley has urged the IRS to focus on these scams. He made the following comment on the IRS’ progress described today.

“My impression is the IRS is getting smarter and faster about going after tax cheats. The IRS
is targeting its resources on identifying scam promoters and participants, using its enforcement
resources more effectively, and better coordinating with the Justice Department to shut down
schemes more quickly before more innocent taxpayers get caught in their web. I appreciate this
progress. As the IRS points out, it isn’t fair for most taxpayers to pay their fair share while a sneaky
few scheme their way out of paying anything. While this progress is good, a lot more work remains.
I’ll continue to conduct my constitutional and jurisdictional oversight of the IRS to make sure this
crackdown continues. Also, I encourage every taxpayer to review the IRS’ updated list of ‘Scams
and Schemes: The Dirty Dozen.’ Look out for the bad apples that spoil everything they touch.”