IRS unit gets no funds to enforce sanctions on rich Russians

WASHINGTON (AP) — For all of the talk about slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs, there was a notable omission in the Ukraine aid package approved this month by Congress: An infusion of money for the IRS criminal investigation arm tasked with tracking down the pricey properties of the Russian elite didn't make the cut.

The White House request to give the IRS $30 million for tracing financial activities associated with sanctioned people appeared to run afoul of broader reluctance by Republicans to put more money into IRS enforcement actions. Republicans close to the spending bill negotiations said the mission of the IRS should be to administer and enforce the U.S. tax code, not to enforce sanctions.

While the money for Ukraine in the spending bill includes $25 million for the Treasury Department's terrorism and financial intelligence unit, $17 million for its departmental offices and $19 million for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the only Treasury agency that did not receive its request was IRS Criminal Investigation.

Many of the sanctions levied on Russia’s elite and its Central Bank are imposed by the Treasury Department and its various enforcement arms, including those at the IRS. Along with the newly formed KleptoCapture group led by the Justice Department, the IRS plays a major part in imposing sanctions on oligarchs and supporters of Vladimir Putin.

A lack of funding for the IRS criminal investigations unit “damages the ability of our law enforcement community to do its work” said Danny Glaser, a former Treasury assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes. “The IRS criminal investigators are some of the best financial investigators in the world. It's important they are at full strength."

In its funding request to Congress, the...