Cons paid

Apparently, crime does pay when Uncle Sam is the victim. That needs to end - now.

Four senators, including Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, are upset the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service have not cracked down on prison inmates who receive income tax refunds improperly.

Throughout the nation, enterprising convicts have conned the IRS out of a whopping $123 million during the past five years, the senators point out. The IRS itself admits that in 2009, 45,000 fraudulent tax returns were filed by prison inmates.

That is outrageous.

IRS officials claim they are doing all in their power to curb tax fraud by inmates. But prison systems, state and federal, are not required to provide the agency with tax status information on convicts, the IRS notes.

Congress should change that immediately. Then, lawmakers should hold the IRS accountable for policing the system and should insist convicts who bilk the government be prosecuted and punished.

- The Marietta (Ohio) Times