An Internal Revenue Service lawyer is waging a battle to stay in his job a year after the agency punished him for speaking to news organizations about a scheme that enabled paper companies to collect about $2 billion in tax refunds and helped the industry weather the Great Recession
The IRS has recently taken the opposite side in a similar case involving Sunoco and ExxonMobil, which are requesting $1.65 billion in tax refunds based on guidance issued by the IRS to justify the agency’s earlier support of the paper industry.
The IRS, in opposing the oil giants’ claims, finds it is arguing against itself. The cases are pending in federal courts.