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IRS Pros And Cons Essay

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From 2005 to 2010, the IRS earned about $14.7 billion annually by conducting audits. By fiscal year 2015, that number had dropped to $7.32 billion because of IRS budget cuts, according to CNBC’s Kevin McCoy.
“Our natural reaction to that kind of statistic is that fewer audits is a good thing,” Attorney Joe Garza said. “The truth is more a mixed bag, though. The lower audit count means the IRS has lost funding and therefore can’t track down corporations and individuals who are breaking the law.”
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has echoed that sentiment. "No office in this organization has been untouched,” he told USA Today. “What you've got is the lowest level of staffing in 20 years.”
So what’s the verdict? Is a weaker IRS a good thing, or does it actually hurt the American people? …show more content…

Allgov.com reports the following: “The IRS has lost 15,000 workers since 2010, but at the same time, the number of income tax returns filed by individuals went up 3%, to 146 million.” The number of returns goes up while the number of IRS workers goes down---certainly not a logical progression.
While the government is first to feel the effects of IRS budget cuts---it receives only half the revenue it once did from audits---everyday citizens experience the trickle-down effect as well.
Invest-smart.org cites IRS Commissioner John Koskinen: ”Such [budget cuts] have made it nearly impossible for many taxpayers to reach the agency with questions,” Koskinen said. “Fewer than half of the calls placed to the IRS were answered in fiscal [year] 2015, and callers who did get through waited on hold for an average 23 minutes.”
According to CNBC, the number of callers to reach an IRS agent with questions was actually 38%, a sign of unprecedented bad customer service. Service was so bad, in fact, that Congress enacted a recent $290 million increase to improve service to

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