8 million calls to IRS this tax season went unanswered due to cuts in funding to IRS.

Hold on,

The "small government" religion people are getting exactly what they want.

Where's the pride? High-fives all around!

runDirtyrun wrote:

Hold on,

The "small government" religion people are getting exactly what they want.

Where's the pride? High-fives all around!

Umm, no. The Federal Tax Code is approximately 74,000 pages long. When it is reduced to something that does not require professional certification (oh, the Feds ARE trying to require certification, by the way) and compel many taxpayers to hire someone to fulfill their civic duty without fear of an audit or a criminal charge, then perhaps the "small government" people could smile much more.

remember when that guy flew a small plane into the IRS building and killed several IRS agents? I was happy to hear of their deaths and hope they didn't die instantly.

"8 million calls to IRS this tax season went unanswered due to cuts in funding to IRS.

WRONG.

The public went unserved because the bloating of the public sector wages and benefits received by each IRS "employee" do not permit the hiring of a sufficient number of staff to fill the need.

It's like the F-22. Only 177 operational aircraft at a cost of $361M per, assessed in 2006 by GAO. Clearly an overly-expensive, niche, peactime aircraft, just like our current overly-expensive, niche, peacetime public service.

The difference is that the people calling the IRS need help, and need it now. Disgustingly high wages, disgusting gold-plated health care plans and "training" allowances, and disgusting defined benefits pensions are to blame. There is MORE than enough money being thrown at this system, but it's being poorly distributed.

If you're into economics, another thing to consider is the cost of administering the tax regime. If everybody got all the help they needed and deserved, it would cost the entire budget. Clearly the tax system is unworkable in its current form.

FLAT TAX, and ABOLISH THE IRS.

BTW all that is the fault of Pres. Kennedy and his 2 executive orders, and of all following administrations, none of which has repealed them, and all following congresses, none of which has overridden them.

The country is getting the government it deserves. (Thank-you Savoyard)

Who calls the IRS? Haven't people heard of google searches?

PutterInPlace wrote:

runDirtyrun wrote:

Hold on,

The "small government" religion people are getting exactly what they want.

Where's the pride? High-fives all around!

Umm, no. The Federal Tax Code is approximately 74,000 pages long.

Uh huh. I see.

Breaking news on Buzzfeed: you, and others using this nonsense, don't understand the purpose of the tax system in the U.S.

Some countries clearly delineate tax policy and industrial policy. Americans don't like the idea of an overt industrial policy so industrial policy is manifest through the tax code. There are other more obtuse methods of disguising industrial policy in the U.S. too. Tax code is an obvious one.

Apparently none of you attended an Economics course in high school or college.

Yeah, file taxes on that note card and then mail it to an agency that doesn't exist. Finally someone gets it. BTW, did anyone watch Bill O'Reilly's comedy skit on how the rich are getting screwed by taxes and the middle class are just fine. Was hilarious. That Bill is a real cut-up.

runDirtyrun wrote:

PutterInPlace wrote:

Umm, no. The Federal Tax Code is approximately 74,000 pages long.

Uh huh. I see.

Breaking news on Buzzfeed: you, and others using this nonsense, don't understand the purpose of the tax system in the U.S.

Some countries clearly delineate tax policy and industrial policy. Americans don't like the idea of an overt industrial policy so industrial policy is manifest through the tax code. There are other more obtuse methods of disguising industrial policy in the U.S. too. Tax code is an obvious one.

Apparently none of you attended an Economics course in high school or college.

You are way, way, way out there. There is strong support for tax simplification among Democrat, Independent and Republican voters. Your inability to make the slightest acknowledgment that a roughly 74,000-page codification of tax law is too much is pathetic. How many other countries burden their taxpayers with such a behemoth that often requires from each of them many hours to complete?

runDirtyrun wrote:

Uh huh. I see.

Breaking news on Buzzfeed: you, and others using this nonsense, don't understand the purpose of the tax system in the U.S.

Some countries clearly delineate tax policy and industrial policy. Americans don't like the idea of an overt industrial policy so industrial policy is manifest through the tax code. There are other more obtuse methods of disguising industrial policy in the U.S. too. Tax code is an obvious one.

Apparently none of you attended an Economics course in high school or college.

What does the above have to do with my personal taxes?

Apparently the IRS is getting revenge on Americans because Republicans refused to continue growing the bureaucracy. The IRS chose to cut back on answering phones as a way to hold Americans hostage to their budget demands. Also, it looks like spending on unions and ObamaCare are stressing the system.

While congressional funding for the IRS remained flat from 2014 to 2015, the IRS diverted $134 million away from customer service to other activities.

In addition to the $11 billion appropriated by Congress, the IRS takes in more than $400 million in user fees and may allocate that money as it sees fit. In 2014, the IRS allocated $183 million in user fees to its customer service budget, but allocated just $49 million in 2015--a 76 percent cut.

The report notes that Koskinen reinstated bonuses weeks after his appointment, has allowed IRS employees to spend roughly 500,000 work hours on union activities, and failed to collect delinquent taxes owed by federal employees. The tax agency has also been strained by Obamacare. According to the report, the IRS has spent "over $1.2 billion on the President’s health care law to date, with a planned expenditure this year of an additional $500 million."

As others have demonstrated, this is a classic knee- jerk big-state liberal response to a problem that their big-state policies created: bigger state, more taxes.

That aside, these policies cost the middle class tax payer time and money. The poor don't pay taxes/file and the rich can spend money on tax attorneys. Who gets stuck buying tax prep software? Middle class. Granted, a cottage industry of tax preparers sprouts up every year (and that does create some jobs) but paying taxes should be an effortless task, if a task at all.

Rampant liberal policies, that have become ingrained in our lives, is gutting the middle class and redistributing wealth to the politically connected or those of us able to perceive its inefficiencies.

"While congressional funding for the IRS remained flat from 2014 to 2015, the IRS diverted $134 million away from customer service to other activities."

Flat funding buys less each year.

CONGRESS passed the laws that made the IRS do those OTHER ACTIVITIES.

So he reinstated bonuses, the average bonus on a $50k salary is $150, rounding error. I'm sure you don't like the $50k salary but if the IRS started having their $25k people answer the phone, you would be the first one to say that you knew more than the IRS help line.

Another IRS scandal on Obama's watch. I simply cannot believe it.