Despite a flurry of scandals surrounding the IRS, the media still trust the government, and liberal groups, more than corporations.
Media outlets, including CBS [1] Moneywatch, Bloomberg View [2] and Ezra Klein [3]’s new Comcast-sponsored startup Vox, targeted Intuit Inc. for allegedly stonewalling the IRS’s attempts to streamline the tax filing system.
The reports were based on a ProPublica study [4], that claimed Intuit, which owns Turbo Tax, was trying to “stymie” an alternative tax filing system in which taxpayers wouldn’t file their own tax forms. Instead, taxpayers would just sign off on already completed tax forms done by the IRS.
ProPublica is a left-wing outlet. It received more than $300,000 from liberal billionaire George Soros and helped instigate [5] the IRS targeting of conservative and tea party groups in 2013 by running a series of articles bashing conservative nonprofits. ProPublica subsequently defended [6] the IRS’s actions.
This particular ProPublica study that attacked Intuit was co-produced with National Public Radio (NPR), which has received $2,700,000 from Soros.
Turbo Tax is a software product that talks people through filing their own taxes, without going to an accountant. Intuit spokeswoman Julie Miller told CBS that the proposed new system “minimizes the taxpayers’ voice and instead maximizes revenue collection for the government.” She went on to say that “[t]hat kind of anti-consumer policy does not advance taxpayer rights, citizen empowerment or real simplification of the tax code.
The 2013 IRS scandal has been news for about a year. The IRS is accused of targeting conservative organizations for audits. The IRS admitted to giving extra scrutiny to applications for nonprofit status from groups with words like “tea party” or “patriot” in their descriptions, according to The Washington Post [7].
— Mike Ciandella is Research Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Mike Ciandella on Twitter. [8]