Every IRS agent MAKES the government money. We are still in the part of the curve where they make hundreds of times more money for the government than we pay them. We should keep hiring IRS agents until they are no longer the most profitable investment. Right now they are and it's not even close. We should also invest in scientific research, including basic science, as that has huge returns as well. We are trying to get rich right?
Obviously there is a point at which hiring more agents does not bring in more money, but we aren't there yet. The tax code is not self-enforcing. It relies on voluntary compliance and you get a lot of non-compliance. IRS agents find that non-compliance. Fewer agents = fewer people to find said non-compliance and thus, most likely, more tax avoidance.
Last year after I did my taxes, some ISR agent snooped around and found a mistake. They fixed the mistake and sent me back EVEN MORE money than I thought I should get.
Like most of the other government agencies that are being downsized, the IRS needs a massive restructuring. Technology updates could save time and eliminate the need for many personnel. Here is my first hand experience of dealing with the IRS.
My 80-year-old mother-in-law was fined by the IRS for not paying enough income taxes in an old tax return and annual penalties adding to the underpayment raised the total amount due to over $13,000. After only a little research on my part, I discovered that someone had stolen her DECEASED husband's ID and had filed a tax return in another state for a tax refund. I literally figured this out in one day.
Now, this next part is unbelievable. I could not CALL the IRS to explain. I had to reply in writing or... wait for it... by fax! Fax machine! I hadn't owned a fax machine in 10 years! Worse, the IRS letter told me that I must reply within 30 days and required that I wait 30 days before following up on my initial letter/fax.
I sent them the husband's obituary in the local paper, his official death certificate, proof of residence in Florida when the bogus tax return was filed in California... and waited. I figured that was overkill, the IRS would have to be complete idiots not to see that this was identity theft, but better to send too much instead of not enough, right?
A couple of months later, the IRS requested bank statements. I sent them. This went back and forth for months with the IRS requesting more information. Often the requests asked for information that I had already sent them!
Finally, in frustration, I sent the IRA a mound of paper with over 200 pages of bank statements, proof of residences, proof that someone else lived at the out of state address when the bogus return was filed, and waited. A few months later, the case was dropped.
THIS PROCESS TOOK OVER TWO YEARS!
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Last year after I did my taxes, some ISR agent snooped around and found a mistake. They fixed the mistake and sent me back EVEN MORE money than I thought I should get.
That's probably one of the agents getting fired.
Same thing happened to me. IRS found they owed me around $1000 for last tax year. A couple years ago they found I owed like $80 or something though. Overall, the IRS has made me money (I still have taxes withdrawn from my paycheck whether IRS exists or not) though.
A lack of IRS will save the rich money though because they will use the lack of accountability to engage in fraud and not pay taxes they owe.
Every IRS agent MAKES the government money. We are still in the part of the curve where they make hundreds of times more money for the government than we pay them. We should keep hiring IRS agents until they are no longer the most profitable investment. Right now they are and it's not even close. We should also invest in scientific research, including basic science, as that has huge returns as well. We are trying to get rich right?
At this point it should be clear. Trump supports others who game the system like he does. He's already pardoned a bunch of folks caught up in corporate fraud.. most of which of course support him.
The guy who paid the largest single tax bill in the history of the US?
The IRS took nearly a year to send me my 2022 tax refund (after I paid six figures in taxes). We need better systems and efficiency
I’m not sure if we need more people in the IRS, but more people alone will not solve the problem.
Losing decades of institutional knowledge won't fix the issue for sure. We should retain all but the worst employees and take steps to make positions in the IRS attractive to the best college graduates. We will see a decline in federal service from all the firings, even after Maga and Doge are no longer in power because federal employment is underpaid, especially early career federal employment relative to private sector.
Every IRS agent MAKES the government money. We are still in the part of the curve where they make hundreds of times more money for the government than we pay them. We should keep hiring IRS agents until they are no longer the most profitable investment. Right now they are and it's not even close. We should also invest in scientific research, including basic science, as that has huge returns as well. We are trying to get rich right?
At this point it should be clear. Trump supports others who game the system like he does. He's already pardoned a bunch of folks caught up in corporate fraud.. most of which of course support him.
I imagine anyone who got a presidential pardon would support that president lol. Of course Trump attracts fraudsters in general pardoned or unpardoned.
So after going through a customer service hell, your solution is that you would rather have had to deal with a machine and that there be fewer humans? It took a long time to get through to someone because there are too many people there? Not enough automated message systems? I don't get this take. In my experience good customer service is having competent humans in sufficient quantity that wait time is minimal. Ask the IRS employees what they need to do their job better. They are happy to tell you.
Like most of the other government agencies that are being downsized, the IRS needs a massive restructuring. Technology updates could save time and eliminate the need for many personnel. Here is my first hand experience of dealing with the IRS.
My 80-year-old mother-in-law was fined by the IRS for not paying enough income taxes in an old tax return and annual penalties adding to the underpayment raised the total amount due to over $13,000. After only a little research on my part, I discovered that someone had stolen her DECEASED husband's ID and had filed a tax return in another state for a tax refund. I literally figured this out in one day.
Now, this next part is unbelievable. I could not CALL the IRS to explain. I had to reply in writing or... wait for it... by fax! Fax machine! I hadn't owned a fax machine in 10 years! Worse, the IRS letter told me that I must reply within 30 days and required that I wait 30 days before following up on my initial letter/fax.
I sent them the husband's obituary in the local paper, his official death certificate, proof of residence in Florida when the bogus tax return was filed in California... and waited. I figured that was overkill, the IRS would have to be complete idiots not to see that this was identity theft, but better to send too much instead of not enough, right?
A couple of months later, the IRS requested bank statements. I sent them. This went back and forth for months with the IRS requesting more information. Often the requests asked for information that I had already sent them!
Finally, in frustration, I sent the IRA a mound of paper with over 200 pages of bank statements, proof of residences, proof that someone else lived at the out of state address when the bogus return was filed, and waited. A few months later, the case was dropped.
THIS PROCESS TOOK OVER TWO YEARS!
It is astonishing to me that you could go through this experience and conclude that the solution... is to take even more money and resources away from this woefully underfunded agency. The IRS has been significantly, chronically underfunded for decades. This is very old news. The bureaucratic nightmare you encountered is by design. Republicans want large corporations and rich people with smart accountants to be able to get away with not paying taxes while the rest of us are left to pay their share and could be subject to legal consequences if we fail to navigate a deliberately broken system properly.
Tax cheats get gifts and the middle class gets the middle finger.
It is astonishing to me that you could go through this experience and conclude that the solution... is to take even more money and resources away from this woefully underfunded agency. The IRS has been significantly, chronically underfunded for decades. This is very old news. The bureaucratic nightmare you encountered is by design. Republicans want large corporations and rich people with smart accountants to be able to get away with not paying taxes while the rest of us are left to pay their share and could be subject to legal consequences if we fail to navigate a deliberately broken system properly.
Tax cheats get gifts and the middle class gets the middle finger.
Literally my entire life, and I'm old, I have been hearing how the IRS is going to crack down on tax cheats. Somehow, then never do. I've lived through both parties controlling government and neither one has done anything about it. Bottom line is that the IRS doens't work. We should shut it down. Replace it with the ERR (external revenue service). That way, if some rich person doesn't want to pay taxes, they all the need to do is source their product in America.
Every IRS agent MAKES the government money. We are still in the part of the curve where they make hundreds of times more money for the government than we pay them. We should keep hiring IRS agents until they are no longer the most profitable investment. Right now they are and it's not even close. We should also invest in scientific research, including basic science, as that has huge returns as well. We are trying to get rich right?
The guy who paid the largest single tax bill in the history of the US?
The IRS took nearly a year to send me my 2022 tax refund (after I paid six figures in taxes). We need better systems and efficiency
I’m not sure if we need more people in the IRS, but more people alone will not solve the problem.
Dems complain abt irs losing agents bc it may result in lost revenue but get pissed when Elon finds massive fraud and waste of our tax money. # [÷& libs