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cover of episode Trump Slashed the IRS Workforce. What Will it Mean for Tax Season?

Trump Slashed the IRS Workforce. What Will it Mean for Tax Season?

2025/3/4
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People
A
Alexis Madrigal
D
Daniel Werfel
I
IRS 员工
V
Vanessa Williamson
Topics
Alexis Madrigal: 特朗普政府在报税季期间解雇6700名IRS员工，这被认为是糟糕的政策，会降低IRS的效率和效力。 Daniel Werfel: 削减IRS的收款部门人员如同企业削减应收账款部门人员一样愚蠢，会损害政府利益。特朗普政府计划通过自动化减少IRS员工，但过早裁员会损害纳税人和政府利益。削减IRS执法部门人员不利于公平税收体系的建立，反而会让遵守税法的大公司处于劣势。在报税季进行大规模裁员会增加纳税人报税的风险，最好等到报税季结束后再进行。无论政府规模大小，政府效率都至关重要，而裁员方式不当会损害政府效率和员工士气。IRS改革应该注重提高服务质量和效率，而不是简单地裁员。政府机构获取纳税人数据的流程应该严格，以保护纳税人隐私。 Vanessa Williamson: 大多数美国人认为纳税是公民责任，但他们对富人和公司逃税感到不满。美国政治并不总是反映民意，即使大多数美国人支持纳税，政治行动也可能与之背道而驰。长期资金不足导致IRS服务质量下降，无法有效处理纳税人的问题和进行必要的审计。目前的IRS裁员并非改革，而是破坏性行为，与旨在改进IRS的改革议程完全不同。纳税罢工并非解决政治不满的有效途径，因为大多数美国人已经预缴税款，且罢工违法。长期以来，人们将政府效率与成本削减混为一谈，导致政府服务质量下降。 IRS 员工: IRS裁员导致员工恐惧和焦虑，影响员工士气和工作效率，并最终影响纳税人服务。 听众: 听众表达了对IRS裁员的担忧，以及对政府效率和公平税收的期待。一些听众认为，政府此举是为了制造混乱，以便为私有化铺平道路。

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The Trump administration's decision to lay off 6,700 IRS employees, 7% of the agency's workforce, in the middle of tax season has raised concerns among tax experts and former IRS commissioners. The cuts disproportionately affected the collection side of the IRS, potentially hindering tax collection and impacting taxpayers with complex tax situations. This action sparked debate on the efficiency of cost-cutting measures in government.
  • 7% of the IRS workforce (6,700 employees) laid off during tax season
  • Layoffs hit the collection side harder than the services side
  • Concerns raised about timely refunds and the government's bottom line
  • Unprecedented cuts compared to previous IRS workforce reductions

Shownotes Transcript

Last week, President Trump fired 6,700 IRS employees, while the chronically underfunded agency, is in the midst of tax season. In a New York Times guest essay, seven former IRS commissioners, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, decried the cuts, which constitute 7% of the agency’s work force, as bad policy that would make the agency less efficient and effective. We talk to tax experts and former IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel, who oversaw efforts to overhaul the agency during the Biden administration, about the impact of these cuts to the agency and to the federal budget and Trump’s policy towards the IRS.

Guests:

Vanessa Williamson, senior fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center; she is the author of "Read My Lips: Why Americans Are Proud to Pay Taxes'; she is also a senior fellow in the Governance Studies department at Brookings

Daniel Werfel, former IRS commissioner, Werfel served as the 50th Commissioner of the IRS from March 2023 to January 2025