Should the IRS be given more money to find money?

WHAT IS THE most important financial entity in the United States? The Federal Reserve sets the beat of global financial markets with its interest-rate decisions. JP Morgan, a bank, has a $3.7trn balance sheet. Some argue the United States Mint could help circumvent the ceiling Congress sets on the national debt by minting a trillion-dollar coin.

And yet it is arguable that the crown belongs to the Internal Revenue Service (irs), whose massive $3.5trn in receipts is more than six times the revenues of the largest private company. Its ancillary assignments alone are vast, including the supervision of private pensions, determination of which institutions deserve tax-exempt status, and provision of payments for numerous government subsidies including $800bn in covid-19-related assistance paid to 160m people. All of these, despite their enormity, pale in comparison to its main assignment: collecting 95% of federal revenues.

For the 56% of American adults who pay taxes, the IRS serves as the primary face of the American government with a right to probe their most intimate financial affairs. It is a scrutiny that may become demonstrably sharper as the Biden administration, in search of revenue to fund large spending plans, wants more money to enhance the agency’s enforcement, in the hope of flushing out hidden troves.

...