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Paul L. Caron
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Tuesday, May 3, 2016

The IRS Scandal, Day 1090

IRS Logo 2Reuters, Conservatives in Congress Urge Shutdown of IRS:

It's a U.S. taxpayer's dream: make the Internal Revenue Service go away, and the largest conservative group in Congress is endorsing just that.

The Republican Study Committee, which counts over two-thirds of House of Representatives Republicans as its members, called recently for "the complete elimination of the IRS."

The committee's support for this idea, once confined to the fringes of conservative ideology, suggests it is more widely accepted on Capitol Hill than ever. But many in Washington, including some Republicans, have trouble taking it seriously. ...

It was unclear how House Speaker Paul Ryan would treat the study committee's proposal in drafting a party policy agenda ahead of the Republican convention in Cleveland in July. "The speaker welcomes input from the RSC and all members of our conference," said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong. Ryan has sidestepped calls for abolishing the IRS in the past, while frequently criticizing the agency.

Washington Post editorial, Congress Should Let the IRS Do Its Job, Not Tie Its Hands:

“The beatings will continue until morale improves,” a famously ironic phrase of unknown origin, aptly describes the Republican House approach to the Internal Revenue Service.

The House has passed a series of sniping, counterproductive measures picking on the IRS. One would limit how it spends the user fees it collects. Another would freeze hiring at the understaffed agency until it obtains certification that no one there has major tax debt. The dumbest would mandate that no one at the IRS could get a bonus until customer service improves.

But who is responsible for the decline of customer service at the IRS? House Republicans. The IRS budget is $500 million below its level in 2010 , the year that Republicans won control of the House. It has been forced to shed 17,000 workers. Meanwhile, its responsibilities have increased. More people are filing taxes. The agency has to administer key parts of the Affordable Care Act. Cyberthreats have skyrocketed, including instances of identity theft.

Hollowing out the IRS has been one of the most foolish policies the GOP majority has pursued, as our columnist Catherine Rampell has illustrated. Tax cheats are encouraged and rewarded. Performing fewer audits cost the government $8 billion in 2015. ...

April is synonymous with taxes, so it is little surprise that Republicans chose last month to harry the IRS, among the least-loved parts of government. But the solution to the IRS’s problems is not more punishment, particularly of the sort that is likely to inhibit its ability to hire competent employees. The answer is for lawmakers to give the agency the money it needs to do its job. The country relies on a mostly voluntary system of tax compliance. If respect for and cooperation with that system decline, the government will lose the very revenue Congress expects the IRS to collect — and on which lawmakers’ budgets depend.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/05/the-irs-scandal-day-1090.html

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Comments

Why is it that the way to supposedly fix government incompetence (or worse) is always to give it more money?

Posted by: Nathan | May 3, 2016 12:35:50 PM

The IRS has trouble doing its job so the solution is to throw money at it to fix the problem. Just like giving Obama a huge bag of money to fix the economy in 2009. How did that work out?

Posted by: Joe R | May 3, 2016 7:11:47 AM