Opinion

Homebuyer tax credit fraud raises flags on other spending

Posted July 16, 2010 11:00 pm

At the same time the Daily Herald had LeBron James all over the front page, deep within the paper was a column that discussed the problems with the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which makes me question your priorities. Briefly, it mentioned there were about 10,000 false claims from people who didn't buy the property they reported on their tax form, 67 of which all claimed to have purchased the same house! In addition, 1,300 prison inmates got the credit, even though it was impossible for them to do so. Finally, 30 IRS employees filed for the credit even though they were not eligible. With ethics like that, it should make everyone wonder what these employees do with your personal information. All things considered, the first-time home buyer program was relatively small compared to the so-called stimulus program, which makes me wonder how much fraud and mismanagement is embedded in it. Maybe this is why the stimulus program hasn't really stimulated anything but more government jobs.

Herb Hupfer

Kildeer

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