It’s the agency that nobody loves—the Internal Revenue Service; you know, the one which causes your stomach to clinch when you get a letter from them. It’s never good news.
Joe Biden wanted to add 80,000 new agents to comb through your life—but President Trump has a different view. He’s proposed changing it to the “External Revenue Service,” and now his administration is planning to close 110 IRS offices around the country.
Good riddance:
The Trump administration plans to shutter more than 110 IRS offices that have taxpayer assistance centers as the White House’s efficiency zeal carves deeper into the tax agency.
The plan, outlined in a Tuesday letter from the U.S. General Services Administration that was obtained by The Washington Post, comes in the midst of the federal tax filing season that ends April 15, and as the administration is working to reduce agencies’ headcount and scale back the footprint of the federal government. Last week, the IRS started laying off approximately 7,000 probationary employees.
At least 113 taxpayer assistance centers will have their leases terminated or not renewed when they expire, according to a list included with GSA’s letter. It’s unclear whether the assistance centers — which provide free, in-person help for tax filers, on an appointment basis — will relocate or simply close.
Notice how the Washington Post stresses the fact that some of these offices have “taxpayer assistance centers,” implying that oh-so-many people will be hurt by this move. But why do we need taxpayer assistance centers? Why are our taxes so freaking complicated that people with graduate degrees have to fork over thousands of dollars to their CPAs because the tax code is so convoluted that only a full-time tax nerd can figure them out?