Gift tax crackdown

As we reported in February, the IRS is trying to track down people who have failed to file gift tax returns. Recently they tried to get the state of California to give them records on people who transfer real estate to family members for no money or very little money. State attorneys argued in court that the records exist at the county level, not the state level, and that therefore the state could not do it. The court agreed. The IRS was directed to seek the records at the county level. There are 58 counties in California. The IRS has not said yet what it intends to do. A couple of possibilities are: (a) Proceed in contacting the counties, or (b) Move on to another state that might be easier to deal with. Massachusetts in recent years has moved many county functions to the state level, so we should not rule out the IRS snooping around here.