When average Americans need help with their federal income taxes, they hire an accountant or buy a computer program to ensure that they don't miss out on any deductions. But when corporate giants like Detroit-based DTE Energy want to save millions, they turn to Washington, D.C., lobbyists.
...DTE Energy is not alone. Nearly 500 companies and organizations have reported lobbying the IRS between 1998 and 2004, putting the nation's revenue collector among the top 30 most frequently lobbied federal agencies, according to a study of federal lobbying records by the Center for Public Integrity. In fact, more companies and organizations reported lobbying the IRS than the Navy, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President of the United States combined.
Indeed, among the top 250 companies and organizations that have spent the most money lobbying the federal government, one in three has lobbied the IRS.
Some of the biggest groups in Washington, D.C., —such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Gaming Association and even the AFL-CIO—have pressed their case to the IRS either through their own in-house lobbyists or by hiring specialists who have ties to the agency or the congressional panels that oversee it.
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