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How Congress leaned on crime victims to pay for Trump-era tax cuts
How Congress leaned on crime victims to pay for Trump-era tax cuts
By Michael Laris
December 14, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST
Dennis and Suzy Gomas, retirees from Spring Hill, Fla., paid the IRS hundreds of thousands of dollars on money that was stolen from them. (Family photo)
Congressional Republicans had a gaping hole to fill. Some crime victims ended up falling in. ... To find savings to cover some of the cost of deep tax cuts in 2017, GOP lawmakers scaled back or eliminated many itemized deductions that targeted specific groups of taxpayers, including those that help crime victims like Florida retirees Suzy and Dennis Gomas.
In a succession of scams tied to a pet food operation called Purrfectly Raw, the couple was defrauded out of nearly $2 million by Suzy Gomas’s daughter, who is serving a 25-year sentence, according to federal court filings in Tampa.
In a July decision, U.S. District Judge Tom Barber, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, ruled that, “astonishingly,” the couple was required to pay federal income tax on the stolen money.
[ Related: A former White House scientist was scammed out of $655,000. Then came the IRS. ]
He cited the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump signed in 2017, which temporarily repealed deductions for losses from storms, fires, earthquakes — and theft. Known as personal casualty loss deductions, they were suspended through 2025.
{snip}
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https://wapo.st/41qfTUO
By Michael Laris
Michael Laris writes about the transformation of the U.S. transportation system. He has covered government accountability and was a reporter in Beijing. Twitter https://twitter.com/mikelaris
By Michael Laris
December 14, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST
Dennis and Suzy Gomas, retirees from Spring Hill, Fla., paid the IRS hundreds of thousands of dollars on money that was stolen from them. (Family photo)
Congressional Republicans had a gaping hole to fill. Some crime victims ended up falling in. ... To find savings to cover some of the cost of deep tax cuts in 2017, GOP lawmakers scaled back or eliminated many itemized deductions that targeted specific groups of taxpayers, including those that help crime victims like Florida retirees Suzy and Dennis Gomas.
In a succession of scams tied to a pet food operation called Purrfectly Raw, the couple was defrauded out of nearly $2 million by Suzy Gomas’s daughter, who is serving a 25-year sentence, according to federal court filings in Tampa.
In a July decision, U.S. District Judge Tom Barber, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, ruled that, “astonishingly,” the couple was required to pay federal income tax on the stolen money.
[ Related: A former White House scientist was scammed out of $655,000. Then came the IRS. ]
He cited the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump signed in 2017, which temporarily repealed deductions for losses from storms, fires, earthquakes — and theft. Known as personal casualty loss deductions, they were suspended through 2025.
{snip}
Share
https://wapo.st/41qfTUO
By Michael Laris
Michael Laris writes about the transformation of the U.S. transportation system. He has covered government accountability and was a reporter in Beijing. Twitter https://twitter.com/mikelaris
2 replies
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