The Hood Ornament for Incompetence.
April 15th, 2008 by Peter SudermanHow is the IRS broken? Let me count the ways.
Or, no, let’s just forget the counting (though if you really want, try the Tax Foundation’s page on tax compliance costs) and look at this one story from the Washington Post. Basically, the IRS employs private debt collectors to pick up the easy tabs that they claim they don’t have the staff to follow through on.
Problem is, these debt collectors cost more money than they bring in. Total losses last year from the services equalled about $37 million.
This is like paying $100,000 extra for a car to save $.05 a gallon on gas. I like Sen. Byron Dorgan’s take: “This program is the hood ornament for incompetence.” And if you ask me, the whole car needs to be taken to the scrap heap.
