About those 87,000 new IRS "Agents"

[Lux Interior]

To address the Republican FUD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l67iRb0Dpe0

Summary:

Lots of IRS employees will be retiring in the next 5 years.

This will bring them back up to their staffing level of 100,000.

Not all will be agents picking on the persecuted conservative tax cheats.

[testcase]

Simplify the *&%%$#@ Tax Code and many of those agents WON'T be needed! :villagers:

[pdq]

Some crazy folks want to bring the IRS into the 21st century so they’d be able to calculate most folks income taxes for them, for free:

“It’s definitely something we should do, and when the IRS is adequately resourced, it’s something that will happen,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at a June Senate Finance Committee hearing.

… Perhaps this biggest hurdle is an agreement between the IRS and some commercial tax preparation companies, known as the Free File Alliance, which prevents the federal agency from creating its own free tax return filing system. In short, the IRS agreed not create its own filing system if companies would instead provide free services to taxpayers making $73,000 or less.

…The Government Accountability Office in April reported that while 70% of taxpayers were eligible for services through the Free File Alliance, only 3% of taxpayers actually use the service.

Huh. Why is that?

In 2019, ProPublica wrote about Intuit’s TurboTax and H&R Block Inc.’s efforts to mislead taxpayers away from the federally supported free services for which they qualified. And in May, New York Attorney General Letitia James secured a $141 million settlement with Mountain View, California-based Intuit Inc., which had to pay restitution to some taxpayers.

What a surprise. Couldn’t see that one coming. :RollingEyesSmiley5:

“As a taxpayer, there could be a great benefit to pre-population [of income and tax data by the IRS on a computerized form] he said. “Filing taxes is enormously time-consuming. Given all the information the IRS has on taxpayers, they could simply send you a completed return.”

…which you could accept, or change, if they somehow have incomplete or wrong info.

Better compliance, fewer audits, quicker refunds. Taxpayer can still do it themselves if they have legit info to support it.

[RgrF]

If done properly, any money spent on collection of taxes from non paying entities (mostly million & billionaires like Trump) will return enough to reduce taxes for others.

Not that I have confidence it will be done properly.

[$tevie]

There's no convincing the morons who believe Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and MTG more than they believe facts.

[macphanatic]

testcase wrote:
Simplify the *&%%$#@ Tax Code and many of those agents WON'T be needed! :villagers:

Exactly. Anyone who is in favor of everyone paying their fair share should be on board with this. It's time to end the mortgage deduction, etc. If you make the same as someone else, you should pay the same. How you spend or not spend your money is your problem.

[DeusxMac]

macphanatic wrote:
[quote=testcase]
Simplify the *&%%$#@ Tax Code and many of those agents WON'T be needed! :villagers:

Exactly. Anyone who is in favor of everyone paying their fair share should be on board with this. It's time to end the mortgage deduction, etc. If you make the same as someone else, you should pay the same. How you spend or not spend your money is your problem.
Could it be simpler? ABSOLUTELY!! Could it be this simplistic? Absolutely unrealistic!

[mattkime]

macphanatic wrote:
It's time to end the mortgage deduction

Hasn't that one essentially been phased out?

[pdq]

mattkime wrote:
[quote=macphanatic]
It's time to end the mortgage deduction

Hasn't that one essentially been phased out?
No but Trump tightened the limits on it, mostly as an FU to places with high real estate values (ie Blue states), along with limiting deductions on State and Local taxes (for the same reason).

For a lot of people, it now makes more sense to take the standard deduction. But, for instance, we still itemize.

[Acer]

The problem with simplifying the tax code is that I'm fine with taking away YOUR tax break, but don't touch mine!