The IRS and Civil Liberties: Powers of Search and Seizure

The protections afforded each American from arbitrary govern- ment action are nowhere more attenuated than in the case of en- forcement of the tax laws. Of all federal government agencies, the Internal Revenue Service IIRS) is permitted the greatest latitude in its relations with citizens, to the point where the authority of government directly conflicts with the elementary civil liberties customarily afforded and constitutionally guaranteed to each indi- vidual. This area of conflict is so extensive and of such a far- reaching nature that this paper will attempt to offer no more than a general overview of the problem, with specific reference to the in- vestigatory power of the IRS. As a result, I will not try to deal with any specific area in depth nor to offer an examination that, in its particulars, is not more thoroughly treated in the existing legal liter- ature. Instead, I hope to provide only a summary of the federal tax investigatory powers that directly conflict with the rights and privi- leges of individuals otherwise recognized and protected by the Constitution and the courts, and to indicate the grave threat these powers pose to personal liberty and to the notion of a free society...