By Tina Sanders

There is a constant argument in government to fund or defund major programs. The pendulum swings back and forth on this issue. At present several politicians advocate defunding the police as a way to completely reform our criminal justice system through more social programs and less incarceration. Sounds like a great idea but in many areas of the country violence and crime has only increased.

On another platform, these same politicians want to fund more money into the IRS system to the tune of $80 billion over 10 years which would be used to hire an additional 87,000 employees. This will create a bigger "monster". Think big, really big "monster". That $80 billion is more than six times the current annual IRS budget of $12.6 billion. Thanks to the "Inflation Reduction" act , it directs a whopping $45.6 billion for the enforcement budget for the IRS. In 2022 alone, the IRS spent $700,000 in guns and ammunition. Several lawmakers feel that this will "squeeze' more money out of middle-class wage earners who are less likely to afford legal aid in IRS audits. The National Federation of Independent Business feels that this IRS enforcement would hurt and burden small businesses with more audits.

The IRS response to this windfall in funds is that it would help them close the "tax gap". This gap is the difference between what people pay in taxes versus what they actually owe in taxes. The Treasury department estimates the gap to be about $600 billion annually that is not collected. A Congressional Budget Office estimate is that these new funds through the "Inflation Reduction" act would increase revenue by about $200 billion annually.

Ronald Reagan told us, “Government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Perhaps an overhaul of our tax codes with less deductions and loopholes would be a better way to solve the "tax gap". Treating hard working Americans as criminals is never the answer!