IRS $50 million: ‘$1,500 to $3,500 per night’ presidential suites at hotels

IRS $50 million: ‘$1,500 to $3,500 per night’ presidential suites at hotels, The IRS spent $50 million at conferences paying for presidential suites at hotels which “currently cost between $1,500 to $3,500 per night.”

The IRS spent $4 million for just one conference held in Anaheim in California in August of 2010 and the 15 outside presentation speakers at the conference were paid a total of $135,000. “One of the speakers, who was paid $17,000, led a session called ‘Leadership Through Art’," reported CNN on June 2, 2013.

Whatever the IRS and the spending of $50 million has to do with leadership and art; at least one government watchdog group would like to know.

On Sunday, a House committee said that the IRS spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees between 2010 and 2012.

“The IRS spent close to $50 million on 225 conferences between 2010 and 2012, according to briefings given to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.”

On Tuesday, a report by the Treasury Department's inspector general is scheduled to be released.

Of specific interest to the House oversight committee hearing is the Anaheim conference which cost taxpayers alone $4 million.

Despite the standard government practice of negotiating lower room rates, the IRS did not feel the need to negotiate for the presidential hotel suites which today cost $1,500 to $3,500 per night.

With about 2,600 IRS conference attendees, spending just one night at a hotel would add up to almost $4 million. Added to that additional benefits for IRS conference attendees like baseball tickets, 15 guest speakers at a rate of $135,000 in fees, and not to forget two videos for $50,000 -- the $50 million IRS spending spree comes to no surprise.

“The IRS spent $50,000 to produce two videos that were shown at the event. One had a ‘Star Trek’ theme and was reported on earlier this year, while the other video – in which employees learned the Cupid shuffle dance – was released this weekend.”

Unfortunately, since there were no sign-in sheets posted outside the training sessions and no credits were given to conference attendees, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) could not really determine who did and who did not actually attend the conference sessions. The sessions' goal was “continuing professional education.”

Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel released a statement on Friday about the upcoming audit release and said that an IRS spending of $50 million is indeed "inappropriate."

IRS $50 million: ‘$1,500 to $3,500 per night’ presidential suites at hotels 2013-06-03T04:46:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: My Videos Tube