Texas plane crash, Here's an explanation of the tax law that the guy who crashed the plane into the IRS building was upset about.

The Senate holds hearings this week on complaints of taxpayer abuse by the Internal Revenue Service, but the agenda does not include the role of Congress itself in creating taxpayer woes, particularly for tens of thousands of computer programmers.

But just ask Midge Johnson, a would-be programming entrepreneur, about a long-standing tax law that is pointed specifically at software professionals and prevents many of them from setting up freelance businesses. Lately, the I.R.S. has been aggressively enforcing that law -- even as computer programmers are in such short supply that the Clinton Administration is pouring millions of dollars into Federal initiatives to train more of them.

It appears to be public policy in conflict with itself and it is making work life difficult for a category of citizens crucial to the digital economy.

Source: nytimes.com