As the 2024 tax deadline nears, Americans are well aware of the outsized impact the Internal Revenue Service can have on their time, attention, and pocketbooks. From supersized agency funding to new reporting requirements on Venmo and PayPal transactions which amount to a “Babysitter Tax” to expanding IRS efforts to take over Americans’ tax preparation and tell them what they owe, the Biden administration’s IRS has continued to expand its intrusion into the daily lives of American families. Oversight and accountability for the policy, resources, and taxpayer service record of the IRS has never been more needed or warranted.
The Democrats’ 2022 Inflation Act bloated IRS funding, devoting $80 billion for the hiring of 87,000 new agents, most of them dedicated to cracking down on hard-working American taxpayers. Since then, the IRS has increased audit pressure on middle-class families and small businesses and struggled to recruit new employees.
In a labor market still hamstrung by a languishing workforce participation rate, it’s unsurprising an agency with a less than stalwart record of service is having difficulty finding new hires. While the agency had a goal to bring on 3,833 revenue agents in Fiscal Year 2023, according to a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, in the first six months officials had recruited just 34.
