The IRS is busy playing detective! But are they building cases, clue by meticulous clue, like the super sleuths of television's CSI? Or are they falling on their faces like the bumbling Inspector Clouseau?
Last month, a federal judge gave the IRS permission to serve a "John Doe" summons on the California Board of Equalization, demanding names of residents who transferred real estate to children or grandchildren for little or no consideration. The IRS sought the names as part of a nationwide effort to find taxpayers who transfer property to relatives without filing gift tax returns. (The IRS had already rounded up information from Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington state and Wisconsin — but California officials objected that state law prohibited them from ratting out residents without court approval.)