Want a Better IRS? Simplify the Tax Code: Clive Crook

One of the most conspicuous parts of the tax-and-spending package known as the Inflation Reduction Act is vastly expanded funding for the Internal Revenue Service.

The promised flood of cash — an additional $80 billion over ten years, compared with baseline annual spending of around $15 billion — raises some questions, and one of the most important is getting less attention than it should. If the IRS lacks the means to do its job well, could that be because its job is far more demanding than it ought to be?

In a word, yes: The IRS struggles to administer the system because US taxes are insanely complicated. In this respect, the purportedly bold innovation on funding for the agency is partly a tribute to the status quo. The enormous increase in spending is combined with another new batch of complexities.