IRS Has Unmanageable Workload

A new report to Congress finds the Internal Revenue Service is facing an unmanageable workload in the face of budget cuts, according to the Associated Press. And, IRS' National Taxpayer Advocate says it's not just hindering the agency's mission. It's harming taxpayer rights. Congress cut the IRS budget by more than $1.5 billion, compared with what the administration requested for this year. At the same time, the agency has to deal with an ever-more-complex tax code, with 4,400 changes between 2001 and 2010. The report finds that's forced the IRS to rely on shortcuts, mostly using automated procedures. For example, IRS computers flagged almost a million tax returns as fraudulent last year and declined to process them without ever giving the taxpayers involved an opportunity to respond.