“Even if one believes that taxes should be lower or simpler, we need a strong IRS to administer whatever code exists for fairness, fraud prevention, collecting lawful revenue, said tax law professor Bridget Crawford. “And so weakening the IRS really undermines the rule of law and shifts the tax burden to compliant taxpayers while enabling evasion by wealthy and powerful people.
The unprecedented staff reductions at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service could result in significantly less tax revenue, a reduction in taxpayer services and fewer audits, tax experts said Tuesday as the Trump administration moves to shrink the federal government and ease scrutiny of big business.
Former President Joe Biden, through the Inflation Reduction Act, grew the IRS to roughly 100,000 employees, but President Donald Trump has fired about 7,000 probationary workers since the beginning of the year, with an additional 5,000 resigning. Another 22,000 workers accepted buyout offers, Politico has reported.
