IRS Criminal Investigation Division Cut by Third
The IRS Criminal Investigation Division’s manpower is down by 1/3 since 1995. At that point, it had 3,358 special agents. Currently it has 2,130 or a 37% reduction in that time period. These are the folks who sent Al Capone to jail as all crime generally has tax evasion implications. Such is an easy way to put the bad guys away or fine large corporations mega bucks to change their behavior and their governance. The division is called upon by Federal prosecutors around the country to investigate cases involving financial and tax matters. It also reviews other financial misconduct including identity theft, tax fraud, and money laundering. Recent investigations have involved Credit Suisse and PNP Paribas which resulted in fines of $2.5 billion and $9 billion respectively. The whole budget of the IRS is currently $11.072 billion less than these two fines alone. This situation is intolerable and nonsensical. The Congress unfailingly should add back the $1.287 billion it has cut since FY2010 to the IRS FY2015 budget. It also needs to add $1 billion a year for 3 years thereafter so that the IRS can address its 6 main objectives during that time period: 1. to reduce the fraud around the earned income tax credit; 2. to increase the discipline in regard to tax return preparers; 3. to reduce the fraud from identity theft and fake income tax returns; 4. to meet the new requirements under the ACA; 5. to reduce the $450 billion tax gap; and 6. to insure that all citizens are paying their fair share of taxes by dramatically increasing tax audits.
Harry Pukay-Martin
