The standard practice of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) showing up unannounced at homes and businesses is near its end. The agency announced Monday that these visits will only be carried out in very specific cases such as asset seizures or delivering summonses and subpoenas.
The shock of seeing IRS agents standing in the doorway was common, but no more.
In more than a hint of paranoia, officials cited safety concerns and the proliferation of scammers as motivation to drastically curtail the practice.
IRS Halts Surprise Visits To Taxpayers’ Homes And Businesses Over Safety Concerns https://t.co/VFJQcppXey #OAN
— One America News (@OANN) July 26, 2023
The extraordinary circumstances under which the IRS will now visit homes or businesses total only a few hundred per year on average. That is opposed to the tens of thousands of annual visits that Americans could previously look forward to.
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said, “these visits created extra anxiety for taxpayers already wary of potential scam artists.” He further noted that uncertainty surrounded agents as to what they would encounter after knocking on doors.
Is this the launching of a kinder, gentler IRS? Not likely.
The Biden administration set the wheels in motion to add a staggering 87,000 new agents over the next decade. The supercharged agency will also benefit from $80 billion in new funding.
So, images of the despised agency riding off into the sunset are extremely misguided.
However, Werfel noted the change in protocol brings “an era at the IRS” to a close. He added on Monday that “today’s announcement is the right thing to do, at the right time.”
The agency came under intense scrutiny after the announcement of the supercharging of its funding and workers. Some leftists charged that it was subjected to “conspiracy theories” claiming that it would increasingly target the middle class to ramp up collections.
The IRS last August began a sweeping review of its safety at agency facilities. And in May it said it would limit the amount of personal information available on its agents when they communicate with taxpayers.
In a report, the Treasury Department said that worries exist over “taxpayers and anti-government or anti-tax groups.” The fear cited by the IRS was that these groups would use online resources “to threaten, intimidate or locate them for physical violence.”
Much like the rest of the Biden regime, the IRS developed a wall of separation from law-abiding Americans. That antagonism is getting even more intense.
