Slavery Reparation Tax Refund
Barney Byrd
William Brenner <william...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8q00kr$q44$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> NEWS Published Saturday, September 16, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Slavery
> reparations con hooks hundreds The IRS says scam artists are targeting
black
> neighborhoods WANDA J. DeMARZO wdem...@herald.com REPARATION RUMOR
The
> slavery reparation tax scheme isn't new.
IRS issued the following news release on the slavery reparations scam in
July 1996. The news release implies that this was a recycled scam then.
Here it is:
=========================
IRS News Release #IRFS-96-8 July, 1996
Reparation Tax Claims Still Being Denied
The Internal Revenue Service is once again receiving and denying
thousands of illegitimate tax claims for slavery reparations to
African-Americans.
In April 1993, Essence Magazine published an article leading
African-Americans to believe they could file tax claims with the IRS for
reparations payable to descendants of slaves.
The basis for the claims dates back to the post-Civil War period when
Congress voted to provide former slaves 40 acres and a mule as a form of
redress for their years in slavery. The bill was vetoed by President
Andrew Johnson, and there is currently no provision in the Internal
Revenue Code that allows for any reparation payable to African-Americans
for slavery.
After the article appeared, the IRS received and denied more than 20,000
of these illegitimate tax claims in 1994. The issue still arises
sporadically and the IRS receives and denies more of the claims.
Recently, the issue came up again, with scam operators telling people
they can fill out IRS Form 2439, a notice to shareholders of
undistributed long-term capital gains, to collect the slavery
reparations. IRS forms distribution sites are now receiving thousands
of requests daily for Form 2439.
These claims are illegitimate and will be denied. Taxpayers making
claims for reparations for slavery will receive a denial letter from
IRS. Taxpayers who file a subsequent tax claim for reparations after
they receive a denial notice could receive a $500 penalty for filing a
frivolous tax return. Last spring, a Dallas man was charged with
causing the filing of a fraudulent return in a related situation in that
city. His trial is pending.
============================
Barney Byrd
B_B...@prodigy.net
William Brenner
reparations con hooks hundreds The IRS says scam artists are targeting black
neighborhoods WANDA J. DeMARZO wdem...@herald.com REPARATION RUMOR The
article in Essence magazine titled 40 Acres and a Mule. Author L.G. Sherrod
advocated that African Americans deduct a credit from their income taxes as
reparation for slavery. Sherrod based his article on a post-Civil War bill
that would have required confiscated Confederate property to be used to
provide each former slave with 40 acres and a mule. But the bill was vetoed
by President Andrew Johnson, and no right to reparations exists, the IRS
says. More than 20,000 people tried to claim a slavery reparation after the
story was published. Scores of taxpayers in South Florida have been scammed
in a tax scheme that promises reparations for slavery, and hundreds more may
be on the brink of being victimized, the Internal Revenue Service says. Going
door to door in black neighborhoods and even working through local churches,
scam artists posing as tax experts are telling taxpayers in Broward,
Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties that the IRS will hand out $40,000 in
slavery reparation refunds to African Americans who file an amendment to
their 1999 tax return. The ``experts´´ offer to complete the necessary
amendment for a fee, anywhere from $75 to $150. Descendants of slaves are not
eligible for reparations, the IRS says. The scam, which isn't new, is based
on a bill passed by Congress in 1866 requiring that Confederate property be
confiscated to provide former slaves with 40 acres and a mule. But the bill
was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. Hundreds of people are being duped,
said IRS spokesman Michael Dobzinski. He said the scam was occurring in
pockets nationwide, with concentrations on the eastern seaboard and
California. Those bilking taxpayers are committing fraud and face jail time,
Dobzinski said. The IRS in not now going after the taxpayers submitting the
forms, but if they resubmit a false claim they will face prosecution. ``Word
is out that there is a `black tax rebate´ available,´´ said Shanda McElhaney
of Lauderdale Lakes. ``A friend of mine paid $150 for someone to fill out the
forms and asked me if I wanted to do it. I figured it had to be a scam if
they were charging so much.´´ McElhaney called the local IRS office and found
out there was no such rebate. But in August alone, the IRS office in South
Florida has received more than 90 tax forms from people owing a total of $3.6
million claiming to be exempt from paying taxes because of slave reparations
and asking for their $40,000. ``We think the high number of claims is coming
from the story on slave reparations published in Ebony magazine in August,´´
Dobzinski said. ``It´s getting to be a real problem because they are getting
really upset when we tell them they aren´t getting any money and they have to
pay taxes or they will be prosecuted.´´ The article, titled The Case for
Reparations, advocates establishing some form of compensation for the
descendants of African Americans who were held in slavery. ``The scams have
been ongoing for the last seven years since the first article concerning
slavery reparations came out in a 1993 Essence magazine article titled 40
Acres and a Mule,´´ said Don Roberts, an IRS spokesman. ``In both cases we´re
seeing activity because the scam artists are pushing it right and left.´´
Mary Williams of Carol City said she and several others learned of the
alleged reparations at The New Jerusalem Church, 795 NW 111th St. in
Miami-Dade County. The Miami Police Department is investigating complaints
about someone running the scam near the church. Contact Us Copyright 2000
Miami Herald
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Gary L. Dare
even a professional tax preparer got duped on this
and was prosecuted for preparing his clients' tax
returns in this fashion. The reparations case is
a real initiative, though, and has been lent City
Hall facilities by Chicago for hearings. A bright
law student is pursuing a case in the courts based
on the Holocaust reparations, according to the NYT.
--
Gary L. Dare
g...@ripco.com
Ripco, Chicago's Oldest Online Information Service
Paul Thomas
> even a professional tax preparer got duped on this
> and was prosecuted for preparing his clients' tax
> returns in this fashion. The reparations case is
> a real initiative, though, and has been lent City
> Hall facilities by Chicago for hearings. A bright
> law student is pursuing a case in the courts based
> on the Holocaust reparations, according to the NYT.
Think of the genealogy information you'd have to have to support such a
claim of refund.
--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia
tax...@negia.net
Barney Byrd
Slavery
> reparations con hooks hundreds The IRS says scam artists are targeting
black
> neighborhoods WANDA J. DeMARZO wdem...@herald.com REPARATION RUMOR
The
> slavery reparation tax scheme isn't new. It was first sparked in 1993
by an
> article in Essence magazine titled 40 Acres and a Mule. Author L.G.
Sherrod
> advocated that African Americans deduct a credit from their income
taxes as
> reparation for slavery.
Does anybody know if the Essence Magazine article referred to above is
available on the Internet? I'd like to read it.
Barney Byrd
B_B...@prodigy.net
Don Priebe
> Does anybody know if the Essence Magazine article referred to above is
> available on the Internet? I'd like to read it.
Couldn't find the article online, but October was the
"special money edition" of Essence.
http://www.essence.com/magazine/this_issue/ti_0900.shtml
Don EA in Upstate NY
Salt of the Earth
>
> In a WSJ "Tax Report" column a couple of weeks ago,
> even a professional tax preparer got duped on this
> and was prosecuted for preparing his clients' tax
> returns in this fashion. The reparations case is
> a real initiative, though, and has been lent City
> Hall facilities by Chicago for hearings. A bright
> law student is pursuing a case in the courts based
> on the Holocaust reparations, according to the NYT.
>
In New York State, there are two deductions allowed for
Holocaust victims: income from court settlements,
and income from stolen assets recovered.
--
If you fervently believe you're right, that doesn't make it so.
Salt of the Earth - sse...@mindless.com