Daines Introduces Bill to Increase Penalties for Illegally Sharing Americans’ Tax Information
U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines introduced the “Increasing Rightful Sentences Act” or the “IRS Act,” to increase penalties for future unauthorized disclosures of confidential tax information. Introduction follows the news that after a more than two-year-long investigation, a former IRS contractor, Charles Littlejohn, pleaded guilty to stealing and leaking thousands of individuals’ private IRS tax records, including those of a former President, and sharing them with news outlets. Littlejohn was charged with a single count of unauthorized disclosure of tax information through a plea deal negotiated with the Department of Justice despite illegally obtaining and sharing thousands of individuals’ information. “A mere slap-on-the-wrist for illegally releasing Americans’ private tax