{"id":82214,"date":"2021-03-04t12:40:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-04t17:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=82214"},"modified":"2024-06-19t10:05:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19t14:05:56","slug":"stop-beating-up-the-irs-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2021\/03\/04\/stop-beating-up-the-irs-really\/","title":{"rendered":"stop beating up the irs \u2013 really"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"look what these people have been asked to do over the years, and thank them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by jon baron, mba
\nco-founder and head of strategy at make the connection inc.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

during my career, irs employees have had to react to the largest tax change ever in the economic recovery tax act of\u00a01981 and multiple large bills in 1982 and \u201983, and then very significant changes in \u201886. and there were many changes between then and now. most were typically last-minute, retroactive bills that would generally not be acted upon until december which of course the irs would have to implement literally within weeks for tax season.<\/p>\n

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virtually every president has had their stamp on the tax code, including obama with the affordable care act in 2010. and then in 2017, the 4th largest bill ever in terms of tax cuts occurred on december 22. lots of time to plan for tax season, right? and then there was the absurd political show of creating a \u201cpost-card sized\u201d tax return to go along with it. that exercise created a massive amount of unnecessary work. it was insane, done for purely political reasons, and it benefited no one. among other extra work, it added the requirement to create six new schedules. and by the way, it was pretty much scrapped two years ago.<\/p>\n

now let\u2019s fast forward to 2020.<\/p>\n

covid hits. like most, the irs was in no way ready for work from home and they were smack in the middle of their peak time of year. wow! then the first wave of stimulus checks. 160 million of them. take care of that irs, and deal with approximately 10 million of new returns that were only filed to allow for the distribution of some of those stimulus checks. and of course, we had an extended tax season, so irs people were buried through mid-october. then – the second wave of stimulus checks. right before tax season, naturally. and here we are now, again at the height of tax season, and one where tax return volume is way up, faced with another \u2013 very much necessary \u2013 a wave of stimulus checks. and irs, please deal with significant unemployment fraud as well.<\/p>\n

has the irs been perfect through all this? of course not. do they have some backlog to get through? of course. challenges with the unemployment situation? another yes. but all-in-all, their performance was very good given their lack of available funding for technology, etc.<\/p>\n

let\u2019s look at the broader backdrop through this:<\/p>\n

according to a 2019 study by indiana university which looked at data from the government accounting office, at that time the irs had 21% fewer employees than in 2011 (it\u2019s now down 22%), and the $11.3 billion budget for 2019, adjusted for inflation was 19% below its highest level of funding in 2010 and smaller than in 2000. btw – during this period, the volume of tax returns has increased by over 9%.<\/p>\n

what started these massive cuts? bottom line is that they were pushed by those in congress that didn\u2019t like the irs\u2019s role in administering the affordable care act. and it didn\u2019t help that in 2013 the agency was embroiled in a bit of a scandal with accusations that some non-profits were delayed on gaining irs approval. a certain representative from ohio was driving the charge on squeezing the irs budget at the time.<\/p>\n

overall, i believe the irs does an excellent job and needs more funding support to up their game. given their massive task and what they\u2019ve accomplished, they should be thanked rather than undergoing constant criticism. they are always doing their best, and are always asking for input on improving the agency.<\/p>\n

one good example of their desire to do the very best is the initial public\/private security summit to eliminate tax refund identity theft, which was a massive problem. this effort was brought about in 2016 by then irs commissioner john koskinen. the irs called a few of the ceos of the major tax software companies of which i was one, a couple of banks that were heavy hitters in the tax refund business, and a few others, to solve what was a major issue to the us government and its taxpayers. the program was a huge success and has now grown to over 60 participants from a small handful at that initial meeting. and it would not have happened, without an initial major drive from commissioner koskinen.<\/p>\n

i’ve worked with the irs my entire career at various levels, and frankly, i\u2019m very impressed with the leadership, technical skills, security competence, compassion, professionalism, work ethic, and empathy of their people. considering all of their challenges, they have performed exceptionally well over the years, and as an added bonus, have been generally easy to work with. all of their people truly do care, and simply are performing a task \u2013 a difficult and a critical one to our country \u2013 that they have been asked to do.<\/p>\n

thank you, irs employees. you do have supporters thinking about your efforts, and especially what you\u2019ve been through recently and as you face the next several months.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n