Ehrlich on Washington column, September 27, 1999

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of September 27, 1 999 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Be Fair To Fairs: Don’t Tax Them When an agency or arm of the Federal government performs its mission within the letter and spirit of the law it is to be commended. However, if in the eyes of your elected representative, this same agency oversteps its boundaries or appears to be operating in a manner outside the spirit of the law, then I must take swift and concrete action to ensure the agency performs its mission as intended by the American people. This is particularly true when the agency in question is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As the tax collection enforcement arm of the Federal government, the IRS needs to be sensitive to the needs of all citizens, businesses, and organization as long as all concerned are paying their taxes in accordance with established tax law and Internal Revenue Code regulations. As you are probably aware, in response to numerous, well founded concerns, the Congress passed sweeping IRS reform legislation last year. The goal of this legislation was to establish a “kinder, gentler” IRS which would emphasize service and operate strictly within newly defined parameters of fairness. I am pleased the IRS has for the most part responded to this revised mission; there have been far fewer complaints to my office of IRS “abuse” and “mistreatment” compared to past years and, for this, the IRS is to be commended.