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An article on CNNMoney.com uncovers the fact that more than 1,200 prison inmates illegally took advantage of the first time home buyer tax credits this year. Note that the article reads they “defrauded the government.” The prisoners defrauded the TAXPAYERS because it was the TAXPAYERS who paid for this little boondoggle in the first place. The government doesn’t make it’s own money, they don’t go out and pick it off the money tree that grows in the backyard of the White House, the taxpayers fund the government and make it go, and it’s the taxpayers who were defrauded.
Phew! Now that I’ve got that rant out of the way for the moment – the Treausury Department is also saying that thousands of people filed more than one claim or missed the deadline but filed anyway, and so on, to the tune of $28 million. I’m shocked I tell you, shocked that there is corruption amongst a government program.
It goes on to point out that 715 inmates are there for life and 174 committed fraud with the help of a paid tax preparer. Great.
$17.6 million was awarded to folks who bought their house before the program even started! Nearly 90 of the folks who filed improperly were IRS employees.
I never supported the idea of taxpayers giving money to others to buy houses because in the end it will cost way more than the benefits that were received. Time magazine estimates here that it will cost $20 billion. The New York Times calls it “successful but costly.” They point out the in the first 2 phases of the credit, filers didn’t even have to prove that they had bought a house! Finally, evidence indicates that the tax credit will cost TAXPAYERS $100,000 per house sold! My math skills leave much to be desired but even I know that $100,000 is WAY more than $8,000.
