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Doug Shulman: Cutting the IRS Budget Will Do Nothing to Help the Deficit

“Cuts such as those in the House budget resolution would actually increase the deficit by decreasing revenue,” IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.

He said the House proposal would cut $2 billion from the agency’s budget next fiscal year. “Cuts of this magnitude would be substantial and affect all of IRS operations,” from answering taxpayers’ questions on the phone to being able to conduct audits, he said. Shulman said that for every dollar invested in the IRS, the agency collects roughly $200 in revenue. [Dow Jones]

Bill That Would Fire Federal Employees for Unpaid Taxes Wouldn’t Apply to Lots of Federal Employees That Have Unpaid Taxes

Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) have introduced a bill that would take care of all the federal employees who have ‘seriously delinquent tax debts.’ Quite simply, they would be fired:

In 2009, the IRS found that nearly 100,000 civilian federal employees were delinquent on their federal income taxes, owing over $1 billion in unpaid taxes. When retirees and military are included in the total, more than 282,000 federal employees owed $3.3 billion in taxes.

The Senate bill would require all federal employees to be current on their federal income taxes or be fired from their jobs. According to Coburn’s office, “this is a commonsense bill that most Americans would believe is reasonable, necessary, and likely surprised that it is not already the standard throughout the federal government.”

So if the 182,000 people that owe approximately $2.3 billion aren’t eligible to be fired, how exactly is this bill ‘commonsense’? Oh, right! By threatening the 100,000 people who owe $1 billion with the loss of their jobs. Got it!

Senate Bill Would Fire Federal Employees with Unpaid Taxes [AT]