TAXPAYER ADVOCATE WANTS BEEFED UP IRS

Taxpayer advocate wants beefed up irs. After years of under funding the IRS, and watching the Federal Budget Deficit grow, both Congressional Democrats and Republicans have heard the calls for beefing up the IRS, That's because its the one Federal Agency that brings back alot more more money than what is put into it. A whole lot more. When the IRS enforcement arm is up to snuff, is typically brings in nearly $12 dollars for every $1 that is put into the Collection Division. The National Taxpayer Advocate has been sounding the alarm for years, only to be ignored, due to political reasons, and budget shortfalls, of all things. Well those days seem to be in the rear view mirror now.  As Congressional Hearings of late have all but set in motion a large increase in funding for the IRS. Just in time. The IRS has been tasked with a large tax Code change, due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed by former President Trump, additional work in administering the stimulus checks, and changing over the most antiquated computer system in the entire U.S. Government. Taxpayer advocate wants beefed up irs.

In addition to a laudry list of backed up work to do, the IRS now has even more individual and businesses that are behind on taxes, due to the fallout from COVID-19. Not a small number, but hundreds of thousands of additional taxpayers who are falling into the ranks of taxpayers with severe tax debts. In addition Refund Delays due to COVID-19 are hurting, as processing backlogs, nearly 16 million individual income taxpayers filed paper tax returns. This was made worse because of the fact the IRS could not fully staff its mail facilities due to the spread of COVID-19.
Refund Delays due to IRS fraud detection filters have been higher than ever, and the IRS has had to gear up for a heavy season of that as well. During 2020 the IRS sent out over 20 million late notices, a larger amount than normal, most likely due to COVID-19.