John Oliver normally fights for the under-dog. But today he gives us a fascinating – and funny – insight into the lives of those who work at the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The article has some fascinating stats:
- you could wait all day outside an IRS office to talk to someone IRS, because there are so few staff working
- 4 in 10 get through on the phone, with 5 million having “courtesy disconnects” i.e. you get cut off
- 579 tax changes were made last year
- there was a 20% reduction in operating budget last year and 13,000 people left
- only 1% of workforce are under the age of 25
- IT technology is outdated – 50% of tax data is on magnetic tape system
- $1 spent on tax enforcement collects $6
But the most staggering number is the IRS collects $3 trillion annually.
If there is a 1% drop in compliance that is $30 BILLION.
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