Years of budget cuts have undermined the IRS’ ability to enforce the tax code and process returns, a watchdog group examining the agency wrote in its annual report to Congress on Wednesday. According to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s filing, some 10 million unprocessed tax returns from prior years still remain in D.C. Meanwhile, the agency is struggling to respond to the vast majority of citizen inquiries, with just 13 percent of its 173 million call volume reaching an actual agent in 2022. On top of that, the agency subjected callers to longer hold times, to the tune of 29 minutes over the last year. The report comes as Republicans mount a full offensive against the agency, looking to rescind an $80 billion allotment offered by Democrats through the Inflation Reduction Act. House Republicans are also expected to vote on the Fair Tax Act soon, one of the many concessions afforded by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to MAGA holdouts. If passed, the act would abolish the agency completely, replacing it with a national consumption tax.
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