Thursday, August 01, 2024

So, what, oh Stupid Party, are you going to do about it?

Or will you just stick with showing all kinds of upset and actually doing nothing?
Ernst has focused heavily in recent years on drawing public and congressional attention to the lax response of top IRS officials to a growing trend within the federal agency's own workforce of late-filing of tax returns and taxes owed but unpaid.

In the latest edition of an annual assessment of this issue by the Treasury Inspector-General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which Ernst originally requested, more than 5,800 IRS employees and contractors were found to owe nearly $50 million in unpaid levies.

Among these tax cheats are 3,414 IRS employees, representing 4% of the agency's current 85,359-member workforce. Of those among the 3,415 IRS workers who have agreed to payment plans, $9 million remains unpaid. Employees without a payment plan owe another $12 million.
...
“We write with serious concerns regarding your agency’s recent unilateral and unauthorized action to create a permanent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Direct File tax preparation program... The American people do not want an all-encompassing IRS acting simultaneously as the tax collector, tax auditor, tax enforcer, and tax preparer,” the senators wrote.

“Taxpayers already have access to numerous free tax-filing options and dozens of national non-profit entities offer tax preparation services at no cost…The IRS does not have unlimited resources and should focus on improving information technology systems, data privacy, and long-standing customer service issues.”

Federal agencies are not allowed simply to create a new program without prior authorization from Congress, which must also provide funding and approve staffing levels.

As Barrasso and Crapo point out, the IRS received permission to study the possibility of establishing such an initiative, not to proceed directly to creating the new program.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joni Ernst is just another f#@king RINO.
This is the kind of "See, I care" bullshit that she's a pro at.
She voted with democrats to restrict 1A and 2A rights.
I could go on about her record, unfortunately, she's got the iowa rnc hoodwinked with her crap, and Iowans will continue to suffer.
-lg

Mind your own business said...

Not sure that IRS employees owing back taxes is really much of a "growing trend." It's been a continual embarrassment for decades.

What I could never understand was if they are like most employees, their primary tax liability should be met automatically by paycheck withholding. Where are these big tax liabilities coming from?