Those 87,000 Armed IRS Agents May Have To Wait A While Before Auditing You

Last year, the Congress led by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer (with a big assist from Mitch McConnell) passed a huge spending program (misnamed the Inflation Reduction Act), which included funding for 87,000 new IRS enforcement agents. Interestingly, just days after the law passed, the IRS issued an online disclosure that IRS agents will be receiving weapons training and could be armed when they knock on your door. I recall scenes from the old TV show about Elliott Ness and the Untouchables when they fought Al Capone's gang in the streets of Chicago with machine guns on both sides. Let's hope things don't get that bad, but with the weaponization of government agencies against conservatives, you never know. The Biden administration claimed these agents would be used to go after the "rich" and "greedy corporations." That's another Biden lie. The fact is, the rich and big companies are under continual audit already. When I was tax counsel to Citibank, the IRS actually had offices in our building (which we provided as a courtesy and for convenience). There was never a time when we were not being audited. It just came with the territory. In any case, we don't have to feel sorry for Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk because they can afford the best tax advisors and have access to the best tax avoidance strategies available. In fact, these new IRS agents are coming for you because, to quote Willie Sutton, "that's where the money is." An individual or small business may not make billions of dollars, but they exist in the tens of millions and the aggregate tax revenue from that group is in the trillions of dollars. That's why the IRS needs 87,000 agents; if you were just going after billionaires, you would only need a few hundred. Still, all is not lost. Thanks to Republican control of the House, efforts are underway to rescind the money and end the program of adding IRS agents as described in this article. Cynics might say that this provision might pass the House but will never be approved in the Senate. Don't be so sure. The House is implementing another reform where appropriations are approved agency by agency rather than in omnibus form. It's hard to vote against an omnibus bill even if you oppose certain provisions because you'll be accused of "not supporting the troops" if defense provisions are included in the same package. But when a bill comes along for a single agency such as the IRS (especially one that people dislike), it's much easier to vote "no" and hold the line. We'll see what happens, but some relief may be on its way.

Jim Richards