Hinson misleads about IRS funding

In a Jan. 9 tweet, Rep. Ashley Hinson bragged about a bill passed by the House Republicans: "It's official — we just defunded 87,000 new IRS agents." She added: "The IRS should be focused on customer service, not on targeting hard working Americans." Indeed, the bill she touted rescinds roughly $70 billion IRS funding that was appropriated in the Inflation Reduction Act passed by the previous Congress to be spent over the next 10 years. Hinson misleads her constituents about the purpose of that funding, which was actually intended to rebuild the IRS agency's depleted customer service capacity and taxpayer assistance services, and make long-term investments in its decades-old computer systems, as well as hire and train new staff who can conduct sophisticated audits of high-income and high-wealth tax evaders over the next decade.

The bill just passed by Hinson and her Republican colleagues is designed to weaken the IRS, a move which the Congressional Budget Office projects will result in tax evasion that will increase the federal deficit by $114 billion over the decade.

Bolstering the IRS is one of the few ways to raise more revenue without raising taxes, and it has a long history (until now) of bipartisan support. So why does Hinson ballyhoo about reducing national revenue by allowing more individuals and businesses to avoid paying taxes they rightfully owe?

Judith Pim

Mount Vernon