The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "federal income tax" ...
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A Question of Calculation: Many charity businesses manage to avoid paying federal taxes
The business arm of more than half of major US charities earn profits without paying taxes due to vague exemption in the tax code.
Tags: charity; charities; taxes; tax-exempt; tax code; nonprofits; business; earnings; profit; unrelated business income tax (UBIT); IRS
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Unapproved Drugs
The government is paying millions for risky medications that have never been reviewed for safety and effectiveness but are still covered under Medicaid, an Associated Press analysis of federal data has found. Tax payers have shelled out at least $200 million since 2004 for such drugs. Yet the Food and Drug Administration says unapproved prescription drugs are a public health problem, and some unapproved medications have been dozens of deaths. Millions of private patients are taking them as well, and their availability may create a false sense of security. The AP analysis found that Medicaid, which serves low-income people, paid nearly $198 million from 2004 to 2007 for more than 100 unapproved drugs. Data for 2008 were not available but unapproved drugs still are being sold. The AP checked the medications against FDA databases, using agency guidelines to determine if they were unapproved. The FDA says there may be thousands of such drugs on the market. The medications are mainly for common conditions like colds ad pain. They date back decades, before the FDA tightened its review of its review of drugs in the early 1960s. The FDA says it is trying to squeeze them from the market, but conflicting federal laws allow the Medicaid health program for low-income people to pay for them.
Tags: Medicaid; unapproved medicine; medical reporting; Food and Drug Administration; prescription drugs; medical review
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KC Federal Housing Series
A follow-up to an Oct. 2004 series, this investigation uncovers misspent federal housing dollars intended to benefit lower income families. Among their findings was a sale in which a local developer made a $156,000 profit by flipping the property the same day; a home-repair program which took advantage of home owners; and sweet heart loans to local politicians and business owners.
Tags: housing; real estate; property taxes; property assessment; HUD; restoration; CAR
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Businesses Crack the Code
The amount that Bay Area's largest corporations are taxed and the amount they actually pay didn't match up. Reporters examining federal income tax reports found that the group paid six billion less that the effective amount. These articles went unchallenged by these corporations.
Tags: Bay Area; Bay Area corporations; taxation; tax laws; federal income tax; 35% corporation tax; California tax laws
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Moving out of Reach
This investigative report follows the results of the 1986 Census Bureau survey conducted about housing conditions in Orange County. Using CAR, Campbell's analysis revealed that "nearly a quarter million residents of Orange County--one family in nine--spend at least half their income on housing," which significantly exceeds the federal governent-recommended limit. This investigation also looked at te increase in tax-exempt bonds for luxury apartmet, despite a shortage of low-cost rental properties in the county.
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Tax on Living
This two week series looks at the overwhelming state and federal taxes that Connecticut residents pay everyday. The report explores the number of different taxes which families struggle to pay each month, including sales taxes, income taxes, gasoline and fuel taxes, hidden utility taxes, and the misleading Social Security Trust Fund, which is not a trust fund at all. The articles explain that the trust fund is actually deposited directly into the federal Treasury. Reporters also looked into how Connecticut families fared compared to other states.
Tags: personal income taxes; hidden taxes; liquor tax; business tax; gasoline and fuel tax; inflation; social security; Social Security Trust Fund
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Taking Shelter. As Congress ponders new tax breaks, firms already find plenty. Using tactics such as shifting profit to havens abroad, some pare bills to zero. GM keeps the tab down.
According to the article, "Congress is putting the final touches on a bill that would award corporate America billions of dollars in new tax breaks. But corporate America has already found plenty of breaks in current tax laws. Thirteen years after Congress passed a tax-reform law intended to make every company pay its fair share, government and corporate records show that many profitable U.S. corporations are again paying little or no federal income tax."
Tags: Congress; corporate America; tax; federal income tax; tax breaks; bill; bills; corporations
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Wall Street Concocts New Tax-Saving Ploy; Then It's Feds' Turn
Michael D. Thomson, a Washington bureaucrat, uncovers a new ploy major corporations are using to generate billions of dollars worth of tax deductions. The maneuver, which is known as "step-down preferred stock," helped corporations elude federal income taxes by increasing the deductibility of loan repayments.
Tags: Taxes; loan repayments; corporations
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Student applications for financial aid give lots of false answers
Students who fill out Federal Applications for Financial Aid (FAFSAs) are granted money for higher education based on need, which is usually gauged by the student's own answers to how much their family made last year. However, when FAFSA answers are compared to tax filings, sometimes egregious understatements were exposed. In one case, a student who received a Pell grant, meant only for low-income families, reported an income of $1.3 million to the IRS.
Tags: FAFSA; financial aid; college; money; fraud
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The Cheating of America: How Tax Avoidance and Evasion by the Super Rich Are Costing The Country Billions -- and What You Can Do About It
The book deals with the $200 billion in taxes the federal government fails to collect each year from individuals and corporations failing to do their share. The book examines legal (tax avoidance), illegal (tax evasion) and quasi-legal (tax "avoision") methods of not pay taxes.The authors used the IRS's Statistics of Income and Taxpayer Compliance Measuring Project reports, U.S. Federal Tax records, Treasury Department studies, FDIC reports and other court documents to do their reporting.
Tags: BOOK; taxes; tax evasion; U.S. Tax Court; IRS; FDIC