Taxpayer advocacy group rips IRS reform

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 12:07 p.m.

Attempting to change the IRS can be a taxing ordeal.

The head of a national taxpayers advocacy organization based in Las Vegas was to hold a press conference today to focus attention on how little has changed with the IRS since Congress voted to overhaul the system last year.

"It was window dressing tax reform," says Robert Bennington, president of the National Audit Defense Network, an organization whose 25,000 members are guaranteed free representation if audited by the IRS.

Bennington said any IRS agent still can seize property with little or no justification.

"That is too much power," he said.

At the news conference today Bennington was to introduce six new members of the organization's advisory board:

Bennington said horror stories about abuse of power still exist, such as that of a Florida woman whose home was taken by the IRS after her ex-husband fled the country owing taxes.

The home, Bennington said, was in the woman's name before the couple married, and her husband had no financial interest in the property.

Last year's congressional action was to make it easier for people to avoid responsibility for tax problems caused by former spouses.

The bill also: