New IRS Tech A Necessary Evil?

WSJ’s Kim Strassel argues accusations of IRS targeting its whistleblowers justifies GOP demand to claw back Joe’s $80B infusion, BUT never doubt this agency needs modern computers, if only to hold it as well as taxpayers more accountable.

I speaketh from 7 years of experience as an editor of a leading federal tax publication that was widely accepted as the standard in advising accountants, lawyers & even IRS personnel on how to interpret the nation's arcane Tax Code. It’s understandable how Kim is outraged about the “case of the whistleblower Gary Shapley & Matt Taibbi”, that is, assuming the details she lays out are half accurate. We saw during the Obama Administration of how a politicized, weaponized IRS allegedly targeted conservative non-profits. And, the Trump presidency showed how just about every federal agency is capable of joining the ever-growing bureaucracy parade by turning it against one man & his followers.

And, maybe the columnist makes a valid point that “a politicized Internal Revenue Service has no business keeping its untrustworthy fingers on [at least a large chunk of] last year’s $80 billion” windfall from Congress, “especially as the IRS is openly promising to use the cash to hire tens of thousands of new agents for draconian enforcement activity.” But, make no mistake, the IRS as well as any federal agency in today’s modern world must have the technology tools to KEEP FROM INADVERTENTLY HARASSING CITIZENS, e.g., due to human error and/or outdated hardware or software flubs. Couldn’t the right computer stuff also be devised in a win-win scenario, e.g., to help an oversight Congressional cte MORE READILY EXPOSE AN UNWARRANTED HARASSMENT OF WHOMEVER?

Davd Soul