Pro-tip: if you really need to get in touch with the IRS, call one of your senators. They have a direct line that actually gets answered. Source: friend works for a senator.
Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
51–60 of 182 posts
Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is increasing the enforcement arm going to help with these questions? Also, they are increasing the inforcement arm substantially, to the point it should be above the 2010 levels.
I'm sure cutting 20 BILLION in funding from them in the IRA isn't going to fuck over any of their internal processes or hiring
how do you know this number but not understand the IRA increased IRS funding
Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#53I contact my congressional representative when I need help with the IRS. Have done it twice now. Works great.
Having a single representative as a point of contact is an underrated advantage of the FPTP system the UK and US use.
Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#54Pro-tip: if you really need to get in touch with the IRS, call one of your senators. They have a direct line that actually gets answered. Source: friend works for a senator.
That's a hacky workaround not a real solution (though I don't think you implied this is a real solution). If enough people know about this, the senators' line to the IRS would be full too.
Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#55Why does no one ever consider removing tax that doesn't make that much revenue? When I look at the tax code in the US half of it only applies to 0.0001% of people and the ones that affect the uber-rich have loopholes to avoid it. Why not just look at which tax is the most 'profitable' and remove the rest?
I agree conceptually with where you're going, but there are problems with this approach.
If there's some situation where taxes are high, but almost nobody falls into that situation, you might find that upon removing the associated taxes, people will structure their affairs to fit the newly created hole in the tax code.
Unfortunately, many complex systems are not created by any deliberate design, but by the accumulation of small decisions which often make sense at the time, but create something akin to horrifying tech debt over the course of decades.
Everyone agrees that the current system is a monstrosity, but there are winners and losers in any attempt to simplify things. The winners might be happy, but the losers will kick up a huge fuss.
Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#56There's some other issues at the IRS.
> External applications that have been received are far below the IRS targeted goal and there is an overall shortage of individuals with the desired background and experience
> IRS had planned to bring on 3,833 revenue agents in fiscal 2023, but in the first six months officials had recruited just 34. [1]
It seems somewhat remarkable they managed to hire 7,000 additional customer-service representatives. They missed their other recruiting goals by 100x.
[1] https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2024/03/applications-reven...
Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#57The IRS is a perennial budgeting football for Congress, even though it's one of the few agencies for whom increasing their budget creates positive net revenue for the federal government; its enforcement arm is down 30% in staffing since 2010, with predictably dismal results. As an anecdotal comparison, I had a fairly long-running issue years ago with the IRS over a minor problem (some expenditures got posted to one f…
One of the major parties is deliberately sabotaging it (along with USPS, FDA, and NOAA) so they can point out how useless it is and it should just be shut down.
You forgot the EPA.
Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had friends and relatives who worked for the US IRS in the 80s, they all would say the IRS was the one place that budgets will never be cut, so the felt far more secure than I did in Tech. Little did they know the top 1% would get with one specific US Political Party to cut the IRS budget so thy can all cheat on their taxes. It is cheaper for them to hire lawyers than to pay their "fair share".
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Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#59Pro-tip: if you really need to get in touch with the IRS, call one of your senators. They have a direct line that actually gets answered. Source: friend works for a senator.
That's a hacky workaround not a real solution (though I don't think you implied this is a real solution). If enough people know about this, the senators' line to the IRS would be full too.
100%
Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had friends and relatives who worked for the US IRS in the 80s, they all would say the IRS was the one place that budgets will never be cut, so the felt far more secure than I did in Tech. Little did they know the top 1% would get with one specific US Political Party to cut the IRS budget so thy can all cheat on their taxes. It is cheaper for them to hire lawyers than to pay their "fair share".
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Where can I read more about this?