NCLA Files Appeal Against IRS – Law Firm Alleges Tax Authority Unlawfully Seized Crypto Data From Thousands – Taxes Bitcoin News
On Friday, the law firm New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed an opening order in the public interest in the James Harper cryptocurrency case against Charles P. Rettig. The NCLA argues that the constitutional rights of Harper’s fourth and fifth amendments have been violated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The U.S. tax authorities are alleged to have received Harper’s information from crypto asset exchanges without valid subpoenas or legal restrictions.
IRS has been accused of accessing US citizens’ private information without complying with legal restrictions on subpoenas
The NCLA announced that it has filed an opening letter in the James Harper case against Charles P. Rettig in the U.S. First District Court of Appeals. The NCLA is a non-partisan, nonprofit civil rights organization and public interest law firm that aims to protect constitutional freedoms from government violations.
The case involves a man named James Harper who has led a lawsuit against the IRS, the 49th Tax Commissioner Charles Rettig and 10 “John Doe IRS agents”. The NCLA and Harper argue that the IRS took Harper’s financial information without “reasonable suspicion and without a judicial order”.
“Harper made that plausible claim [the] IRS has violated its constitutional and legal rights, ”the introductory brief details of the civil rights organization.
It all started in 2019 when the IRS sent Harper a letter stating that he had not “properly reported” his “virtual currency transactions”. The IRS also released a press release earlier this summer stating that 10,000 American cryptocurrency owners have received a letter from the tax authorities. The letters were sent to taxpayers who “participated in virtual currency transactions or otherwise failed to properly report past transactions,” the IRS noted.
“Taxpayers should take these letters very seriously,” said IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in the press release.
IRS Hides Behind Anti-Injunction Bill, Supreme Court Says Tax Authority “Cannot Block Laws That Question Constitutionality”
The NCLA and Harper hope the appeals court will allow the case to be heard. The Civil Rights Law Firm firmly believes that this case undermines the plaintiff’s constitutional rights. “This case raises important legal questions as to whether the sovereign immunity of the United States bar associations can challenge the government’s illegal information gathering practices and whether interim or declaratory remedial action is possible in such situations,” the NCLA emphasized.
Caleb Kruckenberg, a litigation member of the NCLA, said he believes the First Circuit can fix this situation. “Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the IRS cannot block lawsuits against the constitutionality of its conduct by hiding behind the Anti-Injunction Act,” Kruckenberg said in a statement to Bitcoin.com News. “Unfortunately, that decision was made after the district court allowed the IRS to abuse the law in this way. However, according to the Supreme Court, this case is a breeze and the First District should quickly reopen the lawsuit. “
The IRS uses very advanced investigation techniques:
They have information that leads them to believe that I may have a cryptocurrency.
Say it is not so!
Such a detective. IMPRESSIVE.PS. I have properly reported and paid all of my taxes. They blindly cast a very wide net. Inexpensive and easy. pic.twitter.com/NnpEq84B6q
– Andreas (BEWARE of giveaway fraud!) (@Aantonop) August 16, 2019
Adi Dynar, member of the NCLA litigator, says the IRS has insufficient reason “to claim that the information it holds” can be obtained without due process. Dynar says that if the IRS instituted appropriate proceedings, it could result in tax assessment or collection. “But the fourth and fifth amendments do not contain any exceptions from the IRS,” Dynar said in a statement. The NCLA’s opening letter describes how the IRS infringed Harper’s rights and obtained its financial information from a third party.
“[The] The actions of the IRS violated the fundamental constitutional protection provisions of the fourth and fifth amendments, ”the NCLA opened briefly in detail. “Assuming the IRS obtained its information from one or more exchanges, Mr. Harper’s contracts recognized that his information was his property, not the exchanges, and gave him a reasonable expectation of the protection of his personal information. The treaties made it clear that he was not voluntarily giving up his rights under the Fourth Amendment by doing business with them. The IRS has seized his information without due process. ”The NCLA added:
IRS did not give Mr. Harper any notice or opportunity to contest his unlawful collection of information. This lack of procedures violates the due process guarantee of the Fifth Amendment. The IRS’s collection of information from Mr. Harper by a third party is also a violation of the Fourth Amendment against Mr. Harper as his personal papers were confiscated without a warrant. The IRS also failed to protect Mr Harper’s legal rights when he received his personal papers from a third party.
The letter from the NCLA states that the interests of the IRS should be balanced with the rights of Harper and the tax authority should have received the records in accordance with the Fourth and Fifth Addenda. “The court should come to the conclusion that the district court has material jurisdiction and that Mr. Harper has made a claim for which redress can be granted,” concludes the NCLA’s opening letter.
What do you think of the case against the IRS? Let us know what you think on this matter in the comments below.
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