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Prepare to Meet the Taxman

Congress is worried.  Deficits are climbing.  So legislators have decided to make a thorough review of the endless duplicative programs and wasteful outlays that fill the federal budget.

Hah, hah, hah!  No, Congress plans on beefing up the IRS to squeeze more money out of people so legislators can keep wasting money.

Reports OMB Watch:

Congress is preparing to substantially increase the enforcement resources of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the FY 2010 Financial Services appropriations bill, representing a reversal in the lethargic funding approved during the Bush administration. This much-needed increase in resources is only a first step in improving the enforcement of the tax code, however, as observers say the IRS also needs to improve how it uses its limited resources.

On July 9, the Senate Appropriations Committee near-unanimously approved its version of the FY 2010 Financial Services bill, which sets funding for the IRS, among other agencies, at $12.2 billon. That is an increase of $549.8 million over FY 2009 levels and $26.4 million more than requested by the Obama administration.

The majority of the funding increase was directed to the enforcement budget of the IRS, which grew to $5.5 billion, an increase of $386.7 million over FY 2009 levels and equal to the president's request. With the House and Senate set to begin conference negotiations over the differences between its Financial Services bills, these funding levels could change somewhat before the final bill is passed. The House allocated $22.4 million less to the total IRS budget than the Senate did, but regardless of the final compromise, enforcement activities are sure to receive a significant increase in funding over FY 2009 levels since both the House and Senate included the president's requested increase.

Well, you wouldn't have spent the money on anything useful, anyway.  Better to let Congress use your money take care of us!

View all comments (6) | Leave a comment

Pete| 7.14.09 @ 7:56PM

Maybe the extra $26.4M is for a special "Congressional and Czar Investigation" branch? There is clearly more money to be found there than by fleecing the general public out of its "dimes."

Solo| 7.14.09 @ 9:37PM

The real money is in the upper income earners but the highest return for the IRS is in the middle class.

Middle class earners can't afford the legal representation to fight the bastards so they capitulate rather than risk losing everything--even if they're in the right. The IRS knows this and makes its attack plans accordingly.

Now, they'll have the man-power to do it even more effectively.

Hang on to your hats!

Political Diva| 7.15.09 @ 7:05AM

How about we start taxing the money members of Congress get for their campaigns? The taxpayer who makes a contribution to a PAC can't deduct it, but there's got to be a whoooole lotta revenue potential in campaign dollars. (Oh wait....that would be taxing a benefit for members of CONGRESS! Never mind....)

Robert Belvedere| 7.15.09 @ 9:04PM

Solo is spot-on. They claim that they will be targeting 'smaller international businesses and individuals', 'domestic taxpayers with offshore activity', 'offshore tax shelters used by pension plans', and 'complex international financial transactions', but you know they will be targeting we middle-class homeowners: mostly because, unlike the others mentioned, we don't have the resources to fight them and, therefore, are more susceptible to the menacing intimidation of the IRS.

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel like a boxer in the tenth round of some noir film who refuses to fall, but keeps getting pummelled by a much stronger opponent; I got rope burns on my back and I can't see through one eye.

Quoted from and linked to this posting at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints.com/2009.07.12_arch.html#1247665181660

Pingback| 7.17.09 @ 9:34AM

The Era of Barack Capone : The Pink Flamingo links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…character destruction.  Call it what it is – Al Capone meets Fidel Castro. A friend emailed that Marxism is nothing more than a license to steal.  People like Barack Obama and his cronies want to take everything those who have worked all their live s have accumulate and give it to their acolytes, to insure their electoral longevity. The difference between Obama and his Democratic minions is they’re…

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More Blog Posts by Doug Bandow

http://spectator.org/blog/2009/07/14/prepare-to-meet-the-taxman
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