Why Hasn’t the I.R.S. Come After This Tax Resister Yet?

It’s official: the next NWTRCC national gathering is going to be held in Harrisonburg, Virginia over . Mark your calendars.

If you’re planning a demonstration or some other action for  — let the folks at NWTRCC know about it so they can help publicize it, and make sure to get some good photos too.


, the IRS sent me a “final notice of intent to levy” letter, and I braced myself, expecting them to find, freeze, and drain my bank account. But then, nothing.

I got another fat envelope from the IRS and I thought, “well, this is probably it.” But it turned out to just be a bunch of 1040-ES forms for that they optimistically hope I’ll fill out over the course of the year.

Why haven’t they pursued me past the threatening-letter stage? I’ve got three theories, any or all of which might be at least part of the explanation:

  1. They’re after me for less than $5,000, which may fall below a threshold at which they don’t consider it worth their while to do the levy paperwork.
  2. They may be waiting to get ’s 1099s and W2s so they have a fresh list of possible levy / lien targets to choose from.
  3. The agency was forced to pull some of its agents from enforcement duties in order to cope with ’s stimulus payment brouhaha and all of its related confusion. They’re anticipating even more confusion this filing season because of the stimulus payments and Congress is in the middle of further mucking up the tax code. It’s possible that the IRS is just plain too busy to go after folks like me.

On the other hand, the agency seemed to have plenty of time and resources to harass poor Bob Grafe. His story is an exasperating tale of how the IRS treats someone who isn’t in the running to be a cabinet secretary.