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DOGE's Cuts to the IRS Threaten to Cost More Than Doge Will Ever Save

38 points by danso 2y ago

taeric 2y ago
It has been a long standing fact that the IRS is positive ROI. Doesn't even require fraud on tax payer, taxes are hard for a lot of people. Any contact and essentially help is a good thing. Why we'd try and undermine that is forever baffling.
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  Because it’s not about efficiency, it is about cutting tax collection capability. Who stands the most to gain from this? The wealthy. They don’t believe they should have to pay the tax. They can’t change tax law without Congress, but they can cripple the IRS without them. Think like a threat actor.
  - taeric 2y ago
    I meant my complaint more to those that support this in the voter base.
    - toomuchtodo 2y ago
      You’re expecting intelligent, rational behavior from people with a 7th-8th grade reading level, broadly speaking, as well as people who voted to hurt others and have found out they are the target.
      - taeric 2y ago
        It would help if they weren't constantly being fed lies. And be honest here, it isn't just lower education people. I distinctly remember many college graduate peers that were still under the lie that getting a nominal raise may actually result in less take home pay because of taxes. Explaining how brackets work was something that was really frustrating for a time. I worry that it stopped being frustrating just because I stopped doing it. Not that it stopped being needed.
bitshiftfaced 2y ago
To be fair, these kinds of jobs are likely to be cut in the coming years anyway. Analyzing tax returns and searching for problems is a task well-suited for AI. It's digital. It's codified. It has to happen at scale. I would predict that within the coming years, many countries will begin running their tax returns through AI and only have human staff putting a stamp on it at the end.
- SvenL 2y ago
  Let me guess, the AI is developed by the ones who benefit the most from tax evasion? I mean there were already System prompt leaks from grok which showed influence on some topics like Musk and trump. Why would an AI be not manipulated?
jmclnx 2y ago
All these cuts are for is to allow the very rich to cheat in their taxes. Biden increased the budget in order to go after the very rich. The rich supported Trump for only 2 reasons: 1. Another tax cut, which will increase the Deficit. 2. Eliminate the IRS as a threat to the rich buy cutting the budget. The cost to audit the rich is very high for the IRS, so the cuts protect people like Musk, Trump and many others.
jaybrendansmith 2y ago
Another victory for the ultra rich, and a loss for the broader public. You know, "we the people".

38 points by danso 2y ago

It has been a long standing fact that the IRS is positive ROI. Doesn't even require fraud on tax payer, taxes are hard for a lot of people. Any contact and essentially help is a good thing. Why we'd try and undermine that is forever baffling.

toomuchtodo 2y ago
Because it’s not about efficiency, it is about cutting tax collection capability. Who stands the most to gain from this? The wealthy. They don’t believe they should have to pay the tax. They can’t change tax law without Congress, but they can cripple the IRS without them. Think like a threat actor.
- taeric 2y ago
  I meant my complaint more to those that support this in the voter base.
  - toomuchtodo 2y ago
    You’re expecting intelligent, rational behavior from people with a 7th-8th grade reading level, broadly speaking, as well as people who voted to hurt others and have found out they are the target.
    - taeric 2y ago
      It would help if they weren't constantly being fed lies. And be honest here, it isn't just lower education people. I distinctly remember many college graduate peers that were still under the lie that getting a nominal raise may actually result in less take home pay because of taxes. Explaining how brackets work was something that was really frustrating for a time. I worry that it stopped being frustrating just because I stopped doing it. Not that it stopped being needed.

bitshiftfaced 2y ago

To be fair, these kinds of jobs are likely to be cut in the coming years anyway. Analyzing tax returns and searching for problems is a task well-suited for AI. It's digital. It's codified. It has to happen at scale. I would predict that within the coming years, many countries will begin running their tax returns through AI and only have human staff putting a stamp on it at the end.

SvenL 2y ago
Let me guess, the AI is developed by the ones who benefit the most from tax evasion? I mean there were already System prompt leaks from grok which showed influence on some topics like Musk and trump. Why would an AI be not manipulated?

jmclnx 2y ago

All these cuts are for is to allow the very rich to cheat in their taxes. Biden increased the budget in order to go after the very rich. The rich supported Trump for only 2 reasons: 1. Another tax cut, which will increase the Deficit. 2. Eliminate the IRS as a threat to the rich buy cutting the budget. The cost to audit the rich is very high for the IRS, so the cuts protect people like Musk, Trump and many others.

jaybrendansmith 2y ago

Another victory for the ultra rich, and a loss for the broader public. You know, "we the people".