By The Iowa Statesman
An Iowa widow has found herself on the wrong side of the law in a most ridiculous way. The government has already seized thousands of dollars from her bank account, and she faces the very real possibility of jail time.
All because she wanted to be nice to her banker.
In a report from the Associated Press, Janet Malone, 68, of Dubuque, is facing civil and criminal proceedings under a law intended to help investigators track large sums of cash tied to criminal activity such as drug trafficking and terrorism. Nearly $19,000 was seized from her bank after depositing her late husband’s legally earned money in a way that evaded federal reporting requirements.
At issue is a law requiring banks to report deposits of more than $10,000 cash to the federal government. Anyone who breaks deposits into increments below that level to avoid the requirement is committing a crime known as “structuring” — whether their money is legal or not. But some members of Congress and libertarian groups have complained that the IRS and federal prosecutors are unfairly using the law against ordinary people who deposit lawfully obtained money in increments below $10,000.
This isn’t the first time an Iowan has been targeted with this kind of action.
One way to avoid this issue is to eliminate the IRS altogether and replace the federal income tax with the Fair Tax. A number of presidential candidates have stated they are in support of the Fair Tax, and the recently released documentary, “UnFair: Exposing the IRS,” demonstrates not only the inherent problems with the current tax code, but also how the Fair Tax meets the Framers’ expectation of government taxation.
Educate yourself on this important issue, and be sure to ask those who seek your vote for elected office where they stand on this important issue.
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