IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said the $346 million cut to his agency means agents won’t be able to provide the law enforcement services they normally do — and that means tax cheats will have an easier time getting away with their crimes.
Another impact: The agency won’t be able to hire at the same rate, he said, Politico reported.
“Our hiring — already limited at a ratio of one hire for every five people who leave — will be frozen with only a few mission-critical exceptions,” Mr. Koskinen wrote in a message to his employees, Politico reported. “We will stop overtime except in critical situations.”
Mr. Koskinen also said that the $346 million cut to his agency will lead to a $2 billion loss of collections from tax cheats, Politico reported.
He described the current IRS budget situation as akin to the agency’s financial scenario in the 1998, when Congress was forced to reorganize, Politico reported. The IRS is expected to announce more cuts to the agency in the coming days.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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