GOP campaigns against the IRS, vowing to slash its funding

WASHINGTON — IRS pleas for more funding from Congress — made over the years by one leader after another — finally paid off this summer when Democrats tucked an $80 billion boost for the agency into their flagship climate and health care law. “The purpose of the funding is to modernize a severely underfunded agency to provide the American people with the customer service they deserve,” said Natasha Sarin, Treasury’s Counselor for Tax Policy and Implementation. They need to be telling people how they’re going to benefit, not just personally benefit by an improved IRS, but how rich and corporate tax cheats are going to have to pay the taxes that they owe.” The IRS is still working on the details about how it would spend the extra $80 billion, but it has emphasized that resources would be directed at improving customer service and scrutiny at the high end of the income scale. Among other things, the IRS says its new funding will be devoted to remedying longstanding customer service issues — like answering the phone. Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said if Republicans are successful in cutting funding for the IRS, “it will seriously damage a fundamental function of the government,” she said “which is really troubling.” “The reality is that government, through the IRS, plays a critically important role in the lives of Americans every day,” she said.