IRS has lost one-quarter of its IT staff since Trump took office A quarter of the Internal Revenue Service's IT staff has departed since President Trump's workforce reduction efforts began earlier this year, and that has officials worried the 2026 tax season could be a mess. The Treasury's latest IRS workforce reduction snapshot report indicates that as of May, a full 25 percent (2,163) of …
"Still waiting for part of last year's refund, I was told last month that it would be probably September before it arrives. Not holding my breath."
Too many in the US see the tax refunds as an enforced savings plan. One that doesn't earn any interest if they are honest with themselves. What they should do is monitor what they are paying in and making sure they are claiming enough deductions so it's close to even at the end of year. There's even software for that but people would need to take an interest and look at the numbers at least every couple of months. Even if somebody owed a bit, if they do the final calculations at the beginning of the year, they have 4+ months to come up with the payment. It's not so opaque that one can't keep track.
Epstein's case is the best proof why the super-rich must pay much higher taxes.
The files seem to contain a considerable number of VIPs, thus releasing them would harm USA enormously, being a matter of national security and impacting international relations. The whole country is effectively blackmailed. Simply notе that the new wave of demands to release the files started right after Trump renewed military aid to Ukraine.
History once again proves that super-rich are above the law. Epstein was a scapegoat - a head had to roll to avoid a much larger issue.
Judicial process for such cases is extremely expensive for the taxpayer. And Epstein's island that enabled the crimes was a side-effect of his wealth.
Taxing the super-rich is the way to reduce their influence and corruption potential. Apart from other reasons, mentioned by Garys Economics*, for example.
*https://www.youtube.com/@garyseconomics/videos
I'll always remember fondly the storyline of Strike Commander, in which the IRS had become a terrorist organization using the threat of violence (including in particular aerial strikes) to force people to pay taxes to the US government.
That said, in the real world, I'm surprised to see republican politicians directly calling for smaller budgets for the IRS in order to protect honest tax evaders from nasty bureaucrats.
"That said, in the real world, I'm surprised to see republican politicians directly calling for smaller budgets for the IRS in order to protect honest tax evaders from nasty bureaucrats."
New to the US, eh? The IRS has been dysfunctional for years due to the Republicans' hate of the rich paying taxes. There is a reason the only have the resources to audit the poors.
Reducing staff with the same messy tax laws will only make it easier for the wealthy to cheat. If Congress simplified the tax laws, we wouldn't need as many people to collect taxes. We'd also get rid of a lot of people at accounting firms and put them into potentially more useful roles.
A.
That's intentional. They were going to simplify them once - either a free website and/or I think switching to PAYE - but they were lobbied by the people who profit from software and services designed to help people file them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-as-you-earn_tax#United_Kingdom
That were having a material impact on increasing tax take - not more taxes … just stopping Constitution loving American’s who forgot. Commonly known as Tax Cheats.
https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/02/irs-says-its-hiring-surge-and-funding-boost-could-generate-560b-more-it-thought/393966/#:~:text=A%20funding%20and%20staffing%20surge,drivers%20of%20improved%20tax%20collection.
In principle I agree however abolish the stupid deductions scam and several tax rates like any other sensible country.
No tax if you son’t earn enough
Single rate to $100K
Higher rate to $250K
Full rate to $1m
Surcharge for the rich.over $1m annual income.
@AC
"That were having a material impact on increasing tax take"
Maybe I am missing something in your link but its a lot of projections, maybe's, could and from the Biden administration that is trying to justify dumping all this money and increasing the numbers. I dont see where the material impact is in that article.
@UnknownUnknown
"Unless you. A provide evidence they made no difference ….and the ITS. And unction better with less tax inspectors."
I think you were typing too fast so I hope I read your comment correctly. Your link is to a site that proudly says this- "Modernizing the IRS so it can build a more inclusive tax filing system, eliminate racial disparities in audit rates, and stop wealthy tax cheats.". So we can reject that as bollox.
The AC provided the link and the link seemed absolutely clear that there was no hard factual numbers, all projections, could and maybe. Cutting them absolutely and without question removes the wage problem of these agents. They are a cost, so is there anything to suggest they were worth it?
Which brings me back to my comment where simplifying the tax system would seem to be a better place to start instead of compensating for the overly complex. The AC made some suggestions in that direction too.
Agree in principle, but tie the brackets to the cost of living, otherwise you'll have day laborers paying the "over $1M" rate in 10 years, due to inflation.
Also, for public (i.e.: listed on the stock exchange) corporations, executive salaries may not exceed 10x the average employee salary.
"simplify the tax system."
Exactly right, Madam!
It is very heartwarming to see someone of your station in life argue for lower taxation.
The less tax we pay up here at the high table the more crumbs and scraps there will be for you down there in the cheap seats. I pray we continue to profit from those such as yourself who know their place.
What a stupid generalization. I have worked with many many many state and federal workers over my career. The majority have been hard working and dedicated to their jobs. You've apparently had zero actual experience dealing with any government workers.
The bad issue with the IRS as a small business is that their help/advice comes with no guarantee. If they tell you something wrong, you are still on the hook for penalties and interest. I'd much rather pay money to an accountant that will take the hit if they screw up. These are also government employees, so in usual times there's almost no way they can get fired short of "going postal". If you can't be fired for being a useless tool, there's no point in striving to improve in your role. Raises and promotions are based on time-in-rank rather than performance.
While certain divisions could be pared back to save money, wholesale disemployment based on an employees start date is not going to work. Knowing where to trim takes time and plenty of analysis. I've seen some breakdowns of government salaries that illustrate how much of what the Doggies have been doing adds up to very little as they can't touch the olive drab painted gorilla that's a massive black hole hoovering up money with only theoretical guesses about where it goes by examining the event horizon since there is no way to see inside. They can fire all of the park rangers and save taxpayers 0.000000001% of the budget. Sure, it might be $100mn, but it means that there would be nothing left for National Parks but to close and lock the gates to keep the dead bodies from piling up and poaching of the wild animals as caravan-life drug addicts park up and accumulate debris around themselves until even they can't tolerate the smell anymore.
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