Opinion | The ‘Madness’ of the Cuts at the I.R.S.
To the Editor:
Re “I.R.S. Fires 6,700 Employees Amid Busy Tax Filing Season” (news article, Feb. 21) and “Gutting the I.R.S. Is Fiscally Irresponsible,” by seven former I.R.S. commissioners (Opinion guest essay, Feb. 24):
I was glad to see this group of former I.R.S. commissioners, appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents alike, condemn the firing of thousands of the agency’s employees in the midst of tax season, when nearly 200 million taxpayers will be filing their returns. But calling it a “huge mistake” is an understatement. It is madness.
Every bureaucracy of 100,000 people can always be made more efficient. The I.R.S., under the able direction of one of the authors, the recently departed commissioner, Daniel Werfel, has already made major strides in this direction.
Utilizing funds made available in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the agency is in the process of updating its antiquated legacy computer systems and creating a modern information technology environment. Artificial intelligence technologies are being introduced. Taxpayers are noticing substantially improved levels of customer service. But all of this progress will grind to a halt if Elon Musk and his enforcers continue with their plan to eliminate thousands of valuable employees.
Most important, cutting the I.R.S. budget will damage the area with the most potential for revenue: tax enforcement. I.R.S. studies have carefully documented that about $700 billion per year (and growing) is being lost through tax evasion, largely by upper-income taxpayers. Over the next 10 years this “tax gap” will amount to $7 trillion to $8 trillion in lost revenue.
Another of the essay’s authors, the former commissioner Charles Rossotti, has done groundbreaking work in analyzing this tax gap and has testified before Congress on the steps that can and must be taken to begin shrinking this shocking loss of revenue.
A continuing investment in technology, including artificial intelligence, will help make this possible. Indiscriminate firing of thousands of I.R.S. employees will do the opposite.
Alexander R.M. Boyle
Chevy Chase, Md.
The writer is a retired vice chairman of Chevy Chase Bank and a member of the leadership council at the Tax Policy Center.
To the Editor:
The former I.R.S. commissioners are correct, of course, that firings at the tax agency will reduce collections of unpaid taxes, which will effectively increase the nation’s deficit. What they don’t note is that the reduced collections are a feature, not a bug, of the I.R.S. layoffs.
According to a 2021 report by the Treasury Department, Americans in the top 1 percent by annual income account for about 28 percent of lost tax revenue — more than $160 billion per year. President Trump wants to reduce taxes for the wealthiest Americans. One way to do this is to cut their tax rates. Another is to reduce the staff that investigates when they don’t pay even at those rates.
Jeff Burger
Ridgewood, N.J.
The Jan. 6 Insurrectionists
To the Editor:
Re “After Trump’s Pardon, Picking Up the Pieces With a ‘J6’ Identity” (front page, Feb. 24):
I’m in my 70s and have lived a remarkably ordinary life: going to school, working, taking care of my family, paying my taxes on time. I’ve never broken the law, except for two speeding tickets about 50 years ago.
At my age, I’m supposed to have gained some wisdom, but for the life of me, I am unable to comprehend how the Jan. 6 insurrectionists can see themselves as victims.
They broke into a building, causing physical damage, ignored the orders of the individuals in charge of securing the premises, assaulted the police and other security personnel and caused several deaths and serious injuries. They did all this in fealty to the current president, even as they threatened the life of Mike Pence, who was then the vice president.
No one forced these people to breach the Capitol, invading the Senate floor and the offices of legislators while staff members cowered in fear. These criminals did not leave the premises until President Trump sent them his love and asked them to go home. Law-abiding citizens like me watched all of this activity in horror, live on television.
For their criminal activity, the insurrectionists received blanket presidential pardons.
Since Donald Trump entered the political arena, American life has become incomprehensible.
Stephanie Nicholas Acquadro
Westfield, N.J.
King Trump?
To the Editor:
Re “Trump Aims to End Congestion Plan, Setting Up a Fight” (front page, Feb. 20):
When the founders convened in Philadelphia in 1787 to write the Constitution, they wanted the United States to be a nation of laws, and no person, even the president, could be above them.
The Time magazine-inspired image of President Trump depicted as a king that was distributed by the White House recently along with his proclamation about New York’s congestion pricing would have horrified past presidents: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, men who had fought tirelessly to establish a new type of government in which the authority rests with the people, not a monarch.
President Trump and the G.O.P. have made a mockery of that history — and our justice system, too.
Gary L. Adler
Lynbrook, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Re “Kennedy Center Challenge: Funding” (Arts, Feb. 20):
Why should fund-raising be a problem? President Trump might very well appoint himself chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and grant the Kennedy Center its full $268 million budget. When you’re king, nothing is beyond your reach.
Karen Cooper
New York
The writer was director of Film Forum from 1972 to 2023.
Turning to Gun Ownership
To the Editor:
Re “Moment They Knew It Was Time to Own a Gun” (front page, Feb. 20):
This is a very upsetting story. More Americans from increasingly diverse backgrounds are turning to guns to deal with the threats they face or think they face from other Americans.
But the source that underlies these disparate reasons to buy firearms is anxiety — the increased anxiety in America that results from the three disturbing “I”s of contemporary life in this country: inequality, insecurity and instability.
Research finds that when people are anxious, they find solace in seemingly simple answers, like belief in conspiracy theories, and the sense that a gun can protect them from unfamiliar, threatening forces in the external and their internal world.
Guns cannot cure what ails us as people; the answer is greater attention to individual psychology and mental health, but the nation fails to invest enough resources on mental health, and the funds will likely drop significantly with the Trump administration’s cutbacks at the National Institutes of Health.
And more Americans will buy guns that will kill other Americans.
Richard M. Perloff
Cleveland
The writer is a professor of communication, psychology and political science at Cleveland State University.
