{"id":62993,"date":"2019-07-29t11:00:37","date_gmt":"2019-07-29t15:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=62993"},"modified":"2020-06-29t11:17:04","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29t15:17:04","slug":"should-the-irs-go-down-in-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2019\/07\/29\/should-the-irs-go-down-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"should the irs go down in history?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stock<\/a>3 reasons an agency historian would be a good idea.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research<\/em><\/p>\n

karl marx may have been wrong about workers rising up against their capitalist overlords, but he was right in observing that much of history can be explained by economics.<\/p>\n

more:<\/b> 5 easy ways that congress could fix tax collection<\/a> | 4 ways to fix irs collections<\/a> | taxpayers deserve better receipts<\/a> | what\u2019s the real impact of irs audits?<\/a>
\n\"goprocpa.com\"exclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

if history and economics go hand in hand, it makes sense\u00a0 that the internal revenue service, an entity through which trillions of dollars pass in a constant flow, should have an in-house historian. its policies, programs, decisions, managers, records, cases, controversies and artifacts are an important part of american and world history \u2013 but only if they survive for historical analysis.
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\nthat intriguing idea comes not from karl marx but from nina e. olson, america\u2019s national taxpayer advocate. she presents the idea in the taxpayer advocacy service\u2019s annual \u201cpurple book\u201d of recommendations for congressional legislation.<\/p>\n

not a new idea<\/strong><\/p>\n

it\u2019s not a bad idea. as a federal agency, the irs is supposed to maintain and manage records and provide access to them by the public. it does so to a certain \u2013 and some would say flawed \u2013 extent. what it doesn\u2019t do is publish a historical analysis of its programs and policies.<\/p>\n

it\u2019s also not a new idea. there are at least 29 federal offices of history operating in the executive, judicial and legislative branches. in fact, the irs used to have a historian … but not for long.<\/p>\n

and the extinction of that office illustrates the need for it.<\/p>\n

the first and last irs historian was shelley l. davis. she held the job from 1988 to 1995, when she resigned because of obstinate resistance by irs management.<\/p>\n

in 1995, the national archives reported \u201cserious shortcomings\u201d in irs recordkeeping. the records in question were not income tax returns or personal information but photographs, mission statements, organizational charges, news releases and annual reports \u2013 the kinds of things other federal agencies routinely hand over to the archives.<\/p>\n

a paucity of records<\/strong><\/p>\n

davis brought the issue to national attention with an op-ed in the washington post on april 6, 1997. here are her opening paragraphs:<\/p>\n

\u201cfor much of the 20th century, the internal revenue service has systematically discarded most of its records. a quick visit to the national archives’s storage facility in college park will confirm this reality. some of the shelves reserved for the records of one of our most important and powerful federal agencies are bare. files of the agency’s commissioners \u2013 and how they make their decisions \u2013 are not there. you can learn more about tax collection during the civil war or the 1794 whiskey rebellion than you can learn about watergate abuses or the expansion of the income tax from a class tax to a mass tax during world war ii.<\/p>\n

\u201c… the paucity of official irs records is a national tragedy … until i resigned in frustration and disgust, i did my best to preserve the agency’s history, even as others at the irs were failing in their duty to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

the relationship between the irs and its historian was tense during her entire tenure. she told congress that \u201cthe irs shreds its paper trail, which means there is no history, no evidence and ultimately no accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

the irs took heed of the in-house criticism. after davis\u2019s resignation, the agency never hired another historian.<\/p>\n

why a historian<\/strong><\/p>\n

the upper echelons of the irs may find a historian, historical records and historical analysis somewhat of an inconvenience, but from other viewpoints, the tas says, the office of historian would be a good idea.<\/p>\n