The Internal Revenue Service's $10.9 billion annual budget is so puny that it's ignoring 60 per cent of phone calls from people who are working on their tax return who have questions in advance of the April 15 filing deadline. John Koskinen, the agency's commissioner, said Tuesday during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. that $346 million in budget cuts this year has caused a noticeable negative impact on taxpayer service.' 'This year we were forced to substantially reduce hiring of extra seasonal help we usually bring in during the filing season,' Koskinen said. 'As a result, the phone level of service is now below 40 per cent.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO. CRY POVERTY: IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told a National Press Club audience that $10.9 billion is too small a budget to guarantee that taxpayers who call with questions hear a voice on the other end of the line. 'TIS THE SEASON: Tax returns for 2014 are due on April 15. 'That means that six out of every 10 people who call can't reach a customer service representative,' said Koskinen. 'This truly is an abysmal level of service.' Koskinen wasn't ceding new ground in Americans' hate-hate relationship with the IRS. He was arguing that Congress should give his agency more money. 'We are aware of taxpayers lining up outside some of our offices many hours before they open,' he said. 'You would think, in fact, we must be selling something like the Apple watch when you look at the lines. This is not a new story this year; it’s just gotten worse.' Overall, Koskinen complained, 'the IRS is now the lowest level of funding since 2008,' resulting in 'fewer audits and collection cases' and costing the U.S. Treasury at least $2 billion in revenue. CAN'T BE ABOLISHED: Presidential canididate Sen. Ted Cruz (pictured in New Hampshrie on March 27) has campaigned on the idea of doing away with the IRS, but Koskinen said Tuesday that it can't be done – although 'you can call it something other than the IRS if that makes you feel better' Congress has weighed that number, though, against a much larger sum of money that has gone out the door to tax fraud scammers. In 2013, the last year for which reliable numbers are available, the IRS paid out $5.8 billion in fake tax refunds to identity thieves. Law enforcement crackdowns have taken 'a lot of the amateurs off the street, but we are clearly dealing with organized crime syndicates here and around the world,' the commissioner said. And the IRS itself gets 'millions of attacks on our system every year,' he griped, due to some software packages the IRS has been using since 'when JFK was president.' 'About the only good thing you can say about them,' Koskinen joked, 'is that the code they use has been out of date for so long that it has the unintended effect of creating problems for any hackers who might try to figure out how the system actually works.' The IRS has been hammered in recent years after investigations revealed lavish spending on employee conferences for its employees, including one featuring am expensively produced Star Trek parody video. Another bone of contention among lawmakers who set Koskinen's budget has been the practice, now discontinued, of paying performance bonuses to at least 1,100 agency employees who themselves owe delinquent taxes. THE IRS, the federal government agency Americans most love to hate, has had its wings clipped by Congress following a series of spending scandals including lavish employee conferences and bonuses paid to tax cheats. Rhode Island Republican Rep. Ander Crenshaw, who chairs the congressional appropriations subcommittee that oversees the IRS, warned the commissioner this year that the House of Representatives nas taken note. 'We deliberately lowered the IRS funding to a level that will make the IRS think twice about what you are doing and why you are doing it,' Crenshaw told him, because you don’t have a single dime to spare on anything frivolous or foolhardy or even mediocre.' Tax returns for individual filers are due in two weeks, but six-month extensions are available. Still, most Americans find America's tax laws confusing enough to rely on tax-preparation software or professional preparers to help them navigate the waters, leading to frustration and now-legendary resentment. 'The IRS code is longer than the Bible,' Koskinen said Tuesday, 'with none of the good news.'
Here is a summary of the highlights for this article:
John Koskinen revealed the startling statistic during a speech at the National Press Club.
He says budget cuts have forced the IRS to pare back its staff numbers, leaving tax return filers largely on their own.
Agency has already cried poor this year, complaining that it lacks the manpower to conduct as many audits as in past years.
But the IRS paid out $5.8 billion in fake tax refunds to identity thieves in 2013, the most recent year for which numbers are available.
Americans have a hate-hate relationship with the agency: 'The IRS code is longer than the Bible,' Koskinen admitted, 'with none of the good news'
Internal Revenue Service's $ 10,9 miljarder årliga budget är så ynklig att det ignorerar 60 procent av telefonsamtal från människor som arbetar med sin skattedeklaration som har frågor före den 15 april ansökningsdeadline. John Koskinen, myndighetens kommissionär, sade i tisdags under ett tal på National Press Club i Washington, D.C. att 346 miljoner dollar i budgetnedskärningar i år har orsakat en märkbar negativ inverkan på skattebetalarnas service." "I år tvingades vi att avsevärt minska hyran av extra säsongshjälp vi brukar ta in under ansökningssäsongen," Koskinen sade. "Som ett resultat av detta ligger telefonservicen nu under 40 procent." Sjung ner för Video. CRY POVERTY: IRS Commissioner John Koskinen berättade för en nationell pressklubb publik att $10,9 miljarder är en alltför liten budget för att garantera att skattebetalare som ringer med frågor hör en röst på andra sidan linjen. Skattedeklarationerna för 2014 förfaller till betalning den 15 april. "Det innebär att sex av tio personer som ringer inte kan nå en kundtjänstrepresentant", sa Koskinen. Det här är verkligen en urusel servicenivå. Koskinen gav inte upp i amerikanernas hat-hat-relation med skatteverket. Han argumenterade för att kongressen skulle ge hans byrå mer pengar. "Vi är medvetna om att skattebetalarna köar utanför några av våra kontor många timmar innan de öppnar", sade han. Man skulle kunna tro att vi måste sälja något som Apple-klockan när man tittar på linjerna. Detta är inte en ny historia i år; det har bara blivit värre.' Sammantaget klagade Koskinen, "skatteverket är nu den lägsta finansieringsnivån sedan 2008," vilket resulterar i "färre revisioner och insamlingsfall" och kostar USA:s finansdepartement minst $2 miljarder i intäkter. KAN INTE TA DIG: Presidential canididate Sen. Ted Cruz (bildad i New Hampshrie den 27 mars) har kampanjat på idén att göra sig av med skatteverket, men Koskinen sade tisdag att det inte går – även om "du kan kalla det något annat än skatteverket om det får dig att må bättre" Kongressen har dock vägt det antalet mot en mycket större summa pengar som har gått ut genom dörren till skattebedrägeri bedragare. Under 2013, det sista året som tillförlitliga siffror finns tillgängliga, IRS betalade ut $ 5,8 miljarder i falska skatteåterbäringar till identitetstjuvar. Polismyndigheten har slagit till mot många amatörer, men det är tydligt att vi har att göra med organiserade brottssyndikat här och runt om i världen, sade kommissionsledamoten. Och IRS får i sig "miljoner attacker på vårt system varje år", grep han, på grund av vissa programvarupaket som IRS har använt sedan "när JFK var president". "Om det enda bra du kan säga om dem," Koskinen skämtade, "är att den kod de använder har varit föråldrad så länge att det har den oavsiktliga effekten att skapa problem för alla hackare som kan försöka räkna ut hur systemet faktiskt fungerar. " Skatteverket har under de senaste åren hamrats efter att undersökningar avslöjat påkostade utgifter på personalkonferenser för sina anställda, bland annat en med är dyrt producerad Star Trek parody video. En annan tvistefråga bland lagstiftare som satt upp Koskinens budget har varit att man nu har upphört med att betala resultatbonusar till minst 1 100 bemanningsföretagsanställda som själva är skyldiga brottsliga skatter. SKRIFTERNA, den federala statliga myndigheten Amerikanerna älskar mest att hata, har fått sina vingar avhuggna av kongressen efter en rad utgiftsskandaler, däribland påkostade personalkonferenser och bonusar som betalats för skattefusk. Rhode Island Republican Rep. Ander Crenshaw, som är ordförande för kongressens underkommitté för anslag som övervakar skatteverket, varnade kommissionsledamoten i år att representanthuset tog hänsyn till. "Vi sänkte medvetet skatteverkets finansiering till en nivå som kommer att få skattemyndigheterna att tänka två gånger om vad du gör och varför du gör det," Crenshaw berättade för honom, eftersom du inte har ett enda öre att skona på något lättsinnigt eller dumdristigt eller ens medelmåttigt. " Skattedeklarationer för enskilda filare förfaller om två veckor, men sex månaders förlängningar finns tillgängliga. Ändå, de flesta amerikaner tycker att USA: s skattelagar förvirrande nog att förlita sig på skatte-beredning programvara eller professionella preparers för att hjälpa dem att navigera i vattnen, vilket leder till frustration och nu-legendarisk förbittring. "IRS-koden är längre än Bibeln," Koskinen sade tisdag, "med ingen av de goda nyheterna. " Här är en sammanfattning av höjdpunkterna för denna artikel:
Internal Revenue Service's $10.9 billion annual budget is so pitiful that it ignores 60 percent of phone calls from people working on their tax return who have questions before the April 15 application deadline. John Koskinen, the agency's commissioner, said on Tuesday during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. that $346 million in budget cuts this year have caused a noticeable negative impact on taxpayers' service." "This year we were forced to significantly reduce the rent of extra seasonal help we usually bring in during the application season," Koskinen said. "As a result, telephone services are now below 40 percent." Sing down for Video. CRY POVERTY: IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told a national press club audience that $10.9 billion is a too small budget to ensure that taxpayers calling with questions hear a voice across the line. The tax returns for 2014 will be due on 15 April. "This means that six out of ten people calling cannot reach a customer service representative," Koskinen said. This is really a terrible service level. Koskinen did not give up in the Americans' hate-hate relationship with the IRS. He argued that Congress would give his agency more money. "We are aware that taxpayers are lining up outside some of our offices many hours before they open," he said. You'd think we'd have to sell something like the Apple watch when you look at the lines. This is not a new story this year; it has just gotten worse.' Overall, Koskinen complained, "the Tax Office is now the lowest level of funding since 2008," resulting in "fewer audits and fundraising cases" and costing the U.S. Treasury at least $2 billion in revenue. CANN'T TAKE YOU: Presidential canididate Sen. Ted Cruz (formed in New Hampshrie on March 27) has campaigned on the idea of getting rid of the IRS, but Koskinen said Tuesday that it can't – although "you can call it anything other than the IRS if it makes you feel better" Congress has, however, weighed that number against a much larger amount of money that has gone out of the door to tax fraud fraud scammers. In 2013, the last year that reliable figures are available, the IRS paid out $5.8 billion in fake tax refunds to identity thieves. The police authority has struck many amateurs, but it is clear that we are dealing with organised crime syndicates here and around the world," said the Commissioner. And the IRS ingested "million attacks on our system every year," he arrested, due to certain software packages that the IRS has been using since "when JFK was president". "If the only good thing you can say about them," Koskinen joked, "is that the code they use has been obsolete so long that it has the unintended effect of creating problems for all hackers who can try to figure out how the system actually works." The IRS has been hammered in recent years after investigations revealed lavish expenditure at staff conferences to its employees, including one with is expensively produced Star Trek parody video. Another contention among legislators who put up Koskinen's budget has been that it has now ceased paying performance bonuses to at least 1 100 temporary agency workers who owe criminal taxes themselves. THE WRITTEN, the federal government agency Americans love the most to hate, have had their wings cut off by Congress following a series of spending scandals, including lavish staff conferences and bonuses paid for tax fraud. Rhode Island Republican Rep. Ander Crenshaw, chairman of the Congressional Sub-Committee on Appropriations Monitoring the IRS, warned the Commissioner this year that the House of Representatives took account of. "We deliberately lowered the IRS funding to a level that will make the tax authorities think twice about what you do and why you do it," Crenshaw told him, because you don't have a single penny to spare on anything frivolous or foolhardy or even mediocre." Tax returns for individual filers are due in two weeks, but six months extensions are available. Yet, most Americans find the U.S. tax laws confusing enough to rely on tax-processing software or professional preppers to help them navigate the waters, leading to frustration and now-legendary resentment. "The IRS code is longer than the Bible," Koskinen said Tuesday, "with none of the good news." Here is a summary of the highlights of this article:
John Koskinen avslöjade den uppseendeväckande statistiken under ett tal på National Press Club. Han säger att budgetnedskärningar har tvingat skatteverket att skära tillbaka sina personalsiffror, vilket lämnar skattedeklarationerna i stort sett på egen hand. Byrån har redan i år klagat på att den saknar arbetskraft för att genomföra lika många revisioner som tidigare år. Men skatteverket betalade ut $5,8 miljarder i falska skatteåterbäringar till identitetstjuvar under 2013, det senaste året för vilka siffror finns tillgängliga. Amerikanerna har ett hat-hat förhållande till byrån: "IRS-koden är längre än Bibeln," erkände Koskinen, "utan någon av de goda nyheterna".
John Koskinen revealed the startling statistics during a speech at the National Press Club. He says budget cuts have forced the IRS to cut back its staff figures, leaving the tax returns largely on their own. As early as this year, the Agency has complained that it lacks the workforce to carry out as many audits as in previous years. But the IRS paid out $5.8 billion in fake tax refunds to identity thieves in 2013, the last year for which figures are available. The Americans have a hate-hate relationship with the agency: "The IRS code is longer than the Bible," admitted Koskinen, "without any of the good news".