Feds Beat Century-Dead Horse

Any excuse in a storm:

The Obama administration on Tuesday defended its effort to regulate the tax return preparation business for the first time in U.S. history, basing its case largely on a 19th century law dealing with horses lost or killed in the Civil War.

At an appellate court hearing on a challenge brought by libertarian lawyers challenging the administration, Justice Department Tax Division lawyer Gilbert Rothenberg said: “I hate to beat a dead horse, especially one from the Civil War era.”

But he explained that the administration sees the “Horse Act of 1884” as providing ample authority for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to regulate the tens of thousands of preparers who fill out millions of Americans’ federal tax returns.

Forward.