不見於主港港媒（及內地南方系等）的美國新聞
【媒體報道：美國國稅局花費410萬美元南加州舉辦一場奢侈的員工訓練會，遭政府審計部門抨擊浪費公帑。稅局於2010至2012年間為員工舉辦225場會議，共花費4,900萬美元，約合共三億人民幣。而聯邦財政部涉嫌替稅局隱瞞，去年還報告稅局過去七年多以來只用少於五十萬美元開會。】
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/06/irs-conferences-oversight-hearing/2395337/
Blasted by Congress, IRS
apologizes for lavish events
Gregory Korte, USA TODAY 4:49 p.m. EDT June 6,
2013
WASHINGTON
—
The tax official responsible for a lavish, $4.1 million conference in Anaheim
apologized to Congress for spending at the conference — and
for his performance as Mr. Spock in a Star Trek parody video.
"The
fact of the matter is, Mr. chairman, it's embarrassing, I apologize,"
Faris Fink said of the two videos produced for the conference at a cost of
$50,187.
Fink,
the commissioner of the IRS' Small Business and Self-Employment Division,
donned pointy ears for his role as the Vulcan commander on a mission to bring
effective tax practices to a faraway planet. That video opened the division's
conference in 2010 —
the most expensive of the 225 conferences audited by the IRS's inspector
general in a report this week.
"I
swear to God, I have looked at that video over and over again, and I swear I do
not see the redeeming value," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the
ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the
$49 million in conference spending by the IRS from 2010 to 2012.
He
produced a copy of an e-mail between two Marriott hotel employees in Anaheim,
noting that Anaheim's bid for the conference was $1 million more than Orlando.
"This sounds like the hotel employees were mocking you, and even taking
advantage of the IRS," Cummings said.
STORY:
IRS employee conferences cost taxpayers $49 million
Chairman
Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the Internal Revenue Service was "effectively
guilty of tax evasion" when it gave employees lavish presidential suites,
free meals and taxpayer-paid gifts without disclosing that as income. IRS
officials said some local employees ineligible for travel expenses were given
revised W-2 forms reflecting their expenses as taxable income.
That
Anaheim conference cost at least $4.1 million — maybe
more. When the IRS' own inspector general audited the Anaheim conference, he
found the documentation lacking, Inspector General J. Russell George told the
committee Thursday.
Danny
Werfel, two weeks into his stint as acting IRS commissioner, called the
conference "an unfortunate vestige from a prior era." He said the
spending "would not occur today." Wednesday, he initiated termination
proceedings against two employees for accepting free food at the conference in
violation of ethics rules.
STORY:
IRS disciplines employees over conference conduct
The
conferences are the second scandal to break at the agency in as many months,
following the revelation that the IRS inappropriately held up applications for
tax-exempt status by groups with "Tea Party" or "Patriots"
in their names.
Though
the incidents are unrelated, both have managed to unite Republicans and
Democrats in outrage. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said he was
"furious" about the overspending —
especially since he's been an advocate for more funding for the IRS.
"Lavish
spending on conferences and absurd training videos is a deep betrayal of IRS
supporters fighting to secure adequate resources for the agency, a slap in the
face to the many dedicated rank-and-file IRS employees who are careful stewards
of taxpayer dollars, and an affront to the American taxpayer," he said.
Werfel
said the Internal Revenue Service has taken "bold steps" to make sure
future travel and conference spending is appropriate, but did not elaborate.
Members
of Congress say the IRS deliberately withheld information about the scandals
from Congress. This week, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., asked for an investigation
into why the Treasury Department did not include the IRS conferences in a 2012
report to Congress claiming that the department spent less than $500,000 on
conferences over more than seven years.
Follow
@gregorykorte on Twitter.
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