Congress and the I.R.S.

Over the last five years Congressional Republicans have cut the I.R.S. budget by nearly $1 billion and reduced the I.R.S. staffing by about 17,000.

House Republicans approved a number of additional anti-I.R.S. bills this past week, labeling it “I.R.S. week.”  Cute.

Paul Ryan, supposedly the Congressional intellectual, said, “Right now, we have a tax code that no one can understand being enforced by an agency that no one trusts.”

Who writes the tax code?  Congress.  Who was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee that writes the tax code for most of the past five years?  Paul Ryan.  

According to the New York Times, for every dollar the I.R.S. spends in tax compliance, it raises at least $4.  By cutting the I.R.S. budget, the Republicans are reducing the amount of revenue raised.  Then they blame the I.R.S. for not doing its job.  

(Statistics for this post are from “I.R.S. Supporters Fight Back Against Republican Offensive, New York Times, (22 Apr. 2016), p. A14.  The article details how former I.R.S. officials appointed by Republican presidents are appalled at the recent Congressional actions.)