EDITORIAL: IRS makes concession in response to GOP criticism

Republican pressure on the IRS is paying dividends.

For decades IRS agents have made surprise visits to businesses and residences as part of the agency’s enforcement strategy. Two decades ago, Congress gave the go-ahead for federal tax collectors to use aliases and otherwise mislead their targets. A letter from the IRS is enough to put your heart in your throat. Imagine opening your front door to find an IRS agent using a phony name flashing a badge and eager to talk about your latest federal return.

CNN reports that the IRS carries out “tens of thousands” of surprise visits each year. Citizens who believe that an agent crossed constitutional lines during such encounters have little recourse. This has led to some unfavorable publicity.

“In recent months, lawmakers and anti-tax groups such as Americans for Tax Reform have been raising questions about unannounced visits by IRS agents,” The New York Times reported this week. “As examples of overreach, they have pointed to a raid in June on a gun shop in Montana — where agents seized personal information of gun owners and buyers — and a visit in April by agents to the Florida offices of the investor Jeffrey Gundlach, which was apparently the result of a clerical error.”

Democrats last year showered $80 billion on the bureau in an effort to beef up enforcement and close the “tax gap,” the difference between revenue collected and revenue owed. The appropriation fanned fears among many Republicans and others that more Americans, particularly those in the middle class, would fall victim to harassment at the hands of a more aggressive IRS.

Sensing the political winds, the agency on Monday announced it would immediately suspend the practice of making unannounced visits to homes and businesses.

“We are taking a fresh look at how the IRS operates to better serve taxpayers and the nation, and making this change is a common-sense step,” said a statement from IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel. “Changing this long-standing procedure will increase confidence in our tax administration work and improve overall safety for taxpayers and IRS employees.”

Americans who purposely cheat on their taxes deserve to be prosecuted, although the complexity of the tax code is an invitation to shenanigans. True simplification would minimize the number of scofflaws, but Congress has shown no appetite for taking such a sensible approach. Until then, taxpayers involved in disputes with the IRS deserve assurances that they won’t be subjected to bullying and intimidation tactics by agents who show up uninvited at their homes or businesses.

The IRS move to drop unannounced visits is a helpful reform.