Excerpt:
Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, who founded and helms trading powerhouse Citadel, has sued the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department for alleged negligence in maintaining safeguards for confidential tax returns after a bombshell report last year cited a trove of IRS data in a series of articles detailing the incomes and taxes paid by some of the world’s richest people.
KEY FACTS
In a federal suit filed with the Southern District of Florida, Griffin alleged the IRS has “willfully and intentionally” failed to establish adequate safeguards to protect confidential tax return information after nonprofit news outlet ProPublica published an article citing the data in June 2021 and then followed up with several pieces, including some targeting Griffin’s political lobbying.
The suit, first reported by Wall Street Journal, claims the disclosure of Griffin’s tax return information to ProPublica was not “requested by the taxpayer,” and as a result entitles the billionaire to punitive damages totaling at least $1,000 per unlawful disclosure and attorneys’ fees, according to a section of the tax code.
It is a felony for a federal employee to leak a tax return or information about a tax return, but the source of the data remains unknown despite some lawmakers claiming there “is little doubt” the confidential information “came from inside the IRS;” the IRS and Justice Department have stated they are investigating the leak, but no formal charges have been filed.
Author(s): Jonathan Ponciano
Publication Date: 13 Dec 2022
Publication Site: The Wealth Advisor, Forbes