US tax agency suspends two for accepting free food, gifts

The scandal-plagued IRS suspended two officials accused of inappropriately accepting free food and gifts at a conference under investigation for lavish spending by the US tax agency.
Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel said he placed the staffers on administrative leave for receiving the food and gifts at a private party in Anaheim, California, where IRS managers were attending a 2010 conference.
"When I came to IRS, part of my job was to hold people accountable," Werfel said in a statement. "There was clearly inappropriate behavior involved in this situation, and immediate action is needed."
The IRS said it has begun the process of removing the employees "pending further review."

A congressional aide confirmed that one of those suspended was Fred Schindler, a deputy to Sarah Hall Ingram, who oversees the IRS aspects of implementation of President Barack Obama's health care law.
A report by Buzzfeed said Schindler and a second staffer were put on leave for accepting USD1,162 in free food and gifts provided by an event planner during an "after hours" party in Anaheim.

Other media outlets identified the second staffer as Donald Koda, who also works on implementing the health care law.
On Tuesday, the Treasury's inspector general for tax administration released a report on the 2010 conference attended by 2,600 people, for which it said the IRS spent at least USD 4.1 million.

Republicans immediately seized on the report, which said the IRS paid USD 50,187 for production of two videos, including a short parody of the science fiction TV show "Star Trek," and USD 133,000 in commission to two event planners.
Some USD 64,000 were also spent on gifts and souvenirs for participants, according to the report.
"The wasteful Anaheim conference is one example of a culture of excess that plagues the IRS and many federal agencies," said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, a persistent critic of the Obama administration.
The revelation is the latest black eye for an agency that last month admitted its agents inappropriately targeted conservative groups applying for non-profit status.

Werfel was appointed to run the agency after Obama forced the previous head to resign over the wrongdoing, which burst into a full-blown scandal last month when the Treasury inspector reported the abuse that had gone on between 2010 and 2012.