theirs stem from money woes.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
the irs may a one-of-a-kind organization, with a unique mission, strengths, and weaknesses. but in at least one way, the irs is a lot like many tax and accounting firms.
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the problems, of course, are many. but one rises above all the others: staff recruitment and retention.
actually, the underlying problem is, like many underlying problems, money.
between 2010 and 2019, the irs budget was cut by 20.4 percent.
irs staffing was cut by roughly the same percentage, declining 22 percent, from 94,711 full-time positions in 2010 to 73,554 in 2019.
those 21,157 people who aren’t there anymore? they’re the ones who weren’t answering the phone when you called, weren’t staffing the taxpayer assistant center that was closed, weren’t opening or answering mail, weren’t following up on frauds, scams and identity theft.
but budget cuts don’t explain all the loss. between 2017 and 2019, the service failed to hire 5,000 personnel for whom funding had been allocated. the money was there, but the recruitment wasn’t.
advances in technology have made up for some of the loss but by no means all. in fact, antiquated technology also made the top ten. it could help a lot more if it updated to the 21st century.
the number of irs employees actually rose a bit in 2020, reaching 81,115. but that doesn’t mean the problem is going away. some 26 percent of the irs workforce is eligible to retire in 2021.
add to that the employees likely find a better job elsewhere – an annual average of 5,576 – and we could see nearly a third of the irs disappear this year.
playing covid catch-up
staffing inadequacy is compounded by the irs playing catch-up ball as it tries to deal with the backlog created by the covid-19 crisis.
on top of that is the backlog left by years of understaffing.
in fact, understaffing is causing understaffing. fewer trained human resource staff means more delays in hiring and too little attention paid to retention.
an attempt to make the hiring process more efficient isn’t going very well. trying to do more with less, the irs has moved all its operational human resources work from individual irs divisions to its central human capital office.
the centralization might save money, but it’s also gumming up the recruitment pipeline. now, if a division has an issue with a job announcement or benefits package, it has no control over the hco employee who’s supposed to be dealing with it.
worse, it isn’t just one hco employee. the recruitment process is built on an assembly-line concept, with the hiring package being passed through a sequence of employees, none of whom feels ownership of the package or process. as a result,
- irs divisions have a hard time accompanying the process
- questions don’t get answered
- communication becomes a nightmare of confusion
- the bureaucracy results in delays and errors
- a new hire is often found to be unqualified
it’s a people thing
tax collection lends itself well to the efficiencies made possible by information technology. much of the collection process can be handled by computers and automation.
but taxpayers are people, and income tax is incredibly complicated. web pages and telephone recordings can’t handle all the needs of all the people who pay income tax but haven’t had time to digest the 6,555 pages of the title 26 tax code. the irs needs more people to help those people.
an irs watchdog makes several recommendations to improve recruitment and retention, among them:
- hire more hr specialists.
- restructure the hiring process.
- allow more recruitment from outside the government.
- provide irs divisions with a single point of contact within the hco.
- allow divisions more oversight of the hiring process.
- instead of hiring contractors do background checks, hire staff to do it.
- invest more effort and funds in recruitment.
6 responses to “irs has recruiting problems, too”
richard conboy
your analysis is spot on. obviously irs is being run like any other government bureaucracy. it will never change. management has always been the problem. you could double the budget, modernize the equipment over night, double the staffing, and nothing would change. it would be the same hum-drum inefficient over-staffed, under-performing waste of time and money. just like the rest of the government.
what a joke. irs has a hiring problem. solution: centralize hiring and create a long, long chain of command for approval. need a grade 1 bookkeeper. as soon as the request gets up to the commissioner and back down you will get one, maybe next year. and while irs is at it, add another 80,000 words to the tax code. it is an excellent excuse for needing more people to less done.
georgia spradlin
if private business can adapt to challenges in days or weeks, there is no excuse for the irs to just say they are backlogged. not acceptable. we have been unable to get simple amended returns processed for a year. and forget about calling, if you do get through they can only say the dept. handling the work needs 16 weeks or more.
tf
as a private sector cpa who has worked with the irs for 30+ years, it is almost a thankless job but someone needs to do it and must do so better. we must help provide better leadership, after all it is our revenue. it must also be said this is why we need to limit what gov controls… smaller, limited gov appropriately well managed by we the people will = less fraud, waste and abuse + better collection and compliance. can you imagine if this was our healthcare! for same reason we can never have a single payer healthcare system. a 50/50 private/gov balance is the best or most we should ever allow in the hands of gov. your and my life depends on this!
frank
congress and the irs have brought this mess on themselves. act now to simplify and make z as more equitable and socially responsible tax code by taxing gross incomes – say individuals at 12%, corporations at 15% and trusts at 12%. end the endless system of exemptions, deductions and credits which consume irs attention and tax the top line. period. oh, then cut irs budget to about 3,000 people and bring its technology up to 1980, which would be a huge improvement.
thomas
cool, we can call it the cpauta the cpa unemployment tax act
ian
the irs is entirely dysfunctional currently. i have multiple clients waiting over 9 months for large refunds. spend 45 minutes on my 7th call to get a very simple amended return refund released. the service centers can’t or won’t do it.
they just reply that they are very backed up and will get to it.
meanwhile stimulus checks go out at a record pace.
this needs to be addressed quickly.