Why Republicans Keep Spreading the ‘87,000 IRS Agents’ Lie

The IRS wait times are down. More phone calls handled.

Calling the IRS? Hold times are way down this tax season

The IRS Answered 2.4M More Taxpayer Phone Calls During 2023 Filing Season

Sad – has no chance of passing the Senate and they know it

House GOP passes repeal of IRS funding boost as its first bill in the majority

How is that going to balance the budget?

CBO: GOP’s IRS bill will add $114B to deficit

The FACTS

‘Deeply Dangerous Nonsense’: Treasury Dept. Debunks GOP Lies About 87,000 Armed IRS Agents

“But the actual net increase in staff would be much lower, as the IRS expects more than 50,000 aging Baby Boomer employees to retire over the next half-decade.

In addition to an unspecified number of new revenue agents—there were 8,321 in fiscal year 2021—the agency is looking to hire tens of thousands of new information technology specialists and customer service personnel who can create a user experience more akin to online banking, Natasha Sarin, Treasury counselor for tax policy and administration, told Reuters.

There are 2,100 special agents in the IRS Criminal Investigation branch who are authorized to carry firearms, but right-wing assertions that all 87,000 new hires would be auditors, criminal enforcement agents, or armed are “deeply dangerous nonsense—and false,” said Sarin.”

This tax season, IRS answered just 10 percent of taxpayer calls

“In the 2021 filing season, the IRS received 167 million calls, many related to its backlog in processing returns, but the agency only answered 9% of people looking for assistance, Erin Collins, the national taxpayer advocate, said in her midyear report to Congress.

During the 2022 filing season, the IRS received about 73 million telephone calls from taxpayers seeking help or guidance. Only 10% of calls reached an IRS employee, Collins pointed out.

So the IRS received fewer calls, yet the level of service was still subpar.

“If a private company failed to answer nine out of 10 customer calls, customers would go elsewhere,” Collins wrote.

“That, of course, is not an option for U.S. taxpayers, so it is critical that the IRS increase staffing in its telephone call centers to handle the volume of calls it receives.””

The 87,000 new EMPLOYEES are going to replace retiring workers and provide more people to answer YOUR calls and process YOUR tax return. CUSTOMER SERVICE. But FoxNews and GOP lies about this,