One element of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act has received a great deal of attention — the expansion of future funding to the IRS. Some politicians have pointed to the provision which contemplates an additional 87,000 IRS employees as creating an army of IRS agents poised to terrorize the middle class.
But what does the provision actually call for and how does the new funding fit into the historical pattern of IRS funding? What is the tax gap and why does the ability of the IRS to audit matter? And how do IRS audits work anyway?
Scott Michel, a member of the law firm of Caplin & Drysdale and the Chairman Elect of the ABA Section of Taxation, breaks it down for us.
