Chicago Area Tax Attorney Kerry Lavelle Voices Concern Over Hidden Provision in Proposed Transportation Bill
Palatine, IL (PRWEB) November 08, 2015 -- A provision buried within a transportation bill now before Congress would revive a twice-failed initiative to turn over collection of old tax debts to private industry according to a leading Chicago area tax attorney, Kerry Lavelle of Lavelle Law, Ltd. With the support of the National Tax Advocate, 11 House Democrats are proposing an amendment to strip the bill of the provision, a move that is supported by Lavelle.
“The thought of opening up taxpayer records to private debt collectors concerns me at several levels,” said Lavelle of Lavelle Law in Palatine, Illinois. “Under what circumstances would these collectors operate and how would they be paid? It has the feeling of setting bounty hunters loose on taxpayers.”
Lavelle, who for more than a decade taught a course on IRS Practice and Procedure at John Marshall Law School, said this approach has already been tried two previous times and in both instances the effort was shut down as it ended up costing the government money rather than filling coffers with past due amounts.
“The focus is on cases that the IRS has determined are inactive because they can no longer find the taxpayers who owe the money. However, the collection process was rife with abuse and disorganization to the point that the IRS had to pull front-line resources off of routine collections to manage the contractors. It didn’t work then and it isn’t likely to work now.”
What compounds the concern now is the ever-growing issue of data breaches. “In the last few years we have seen a monumental growth in data being hacked across government and corporate records,” said Lavelle. “Yes, there are people out there who are dodging their tax liability but to open IRS records up to an industry that has not always operated scrupulously should be a real red flag.”
Attorney Kerry Lavelle began his career as a solo practitioner focusing on matters of tax law before starting his own firm 25 years ago. Today, Lavelle Law, Ltd. consists of 23 attorneys working across more than a dozen practice groups. The firm has received numerous awards and commendations for its work. In 2015, the American Bar Association published Lavelle’s first book "The Business Guide to Law: Creating and Operating a Successful Law Firm". For more information contact Kerry Lavelle at 847-705-7555 or http://www.lavellelaw.com.
Kerry Lavelle, Lavelle Law, Ltd., http://www.lavellelaw.com, +1 (847) 705-7555, [email protected]
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