Go West: How the IRS Should Foster Innovation in Its Agents

Abstract

The IRS faced a serious problem in the 1990s with taxpayers hiding their money offshore to avoid federal taxes. An International Revenue Agent, in New Jersey, Joe West, audited an individual engaged in hiding assets offshore and gained access to the offshore information through the use of a summons. The work of Joe West on that case caused him to “invent” a method for obtaining the names of individuals investing offshore who would not otherwise be known to the IRS. The article discusses the case that led Joe West to his discovery, the technique he developed for locating the names of U.S. citizens placing their money offshore, and the implications to the IRS of the type of creative thinking exhibited by Joe West.

Keywords: offshore, John Doe Summons, credit card