Yes, murderers too.
The IRS is due to get an $80 billion-dollar coat of paint thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act —doubling the workforce of the most inefficient, worst-performing government agency. Before we get to the main course, a quick reminder of the kinds of incompetence we’re dealing with.
From the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (Tigta) as reported by the WSJ:
A January Tigta audit found that an estimated 67,000 claims—totaling $15.6 billion—for the low-income housing tax credit from 2015 to 2019 “lacked or did not match supporting documentation due to potential reporting errors or noncompliance.”
A May audit found that 26% ($1.9 billion) of its American opportunity tax credits for education expenses were improper in fiscal 2021, and 27% ($541 million) of its net premium tax credits (ObamaCare) were improper in fiscal 2019 (the most recent year it estimated).
How did it handle $1,200 stimulus checks, the sick and paid family leave credit, or the employee retention tax credit? Unknown, since the agency didn’t estimate failure rates—for which Tigta rapped its knuckles.
A September 2021 audit found the IRS in 2020 issued 89,338 notices to taxpayers insisting that “balances were owed even though the taxes were not actually due.” Why? Because the feds had extended the filing deadline amid Covid but the IRS apparently didn’t notice.
A damning summary —and here’s one more to throw on the pile.
According to a report from The Washington Free Beacon, the IRS sent $1 billion in stimulus checks to locked-up prison convicts as a result of the American Rescue Plan —including murderers.
More than 1.1 million incarcerated individuals received a little boost from Uncle Sam and 163,000 of them are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Money well spent.
“The American Rescue Plan was reckless in the amount of massive spending with no off-sets,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told the Free Beacon. “Giving stimulus checks to death row inmates is a glaring example. This bill triggered the worst inflation in 41 years, costing the average family $500 a month. The poor suffer the most.”
We’d say “time will tell” if the American Rescue Plan was reckless —but it looks like it already did.
