The Internal Revenue Service is set to be stocked full of 87,000 new IRS agents and a budget six times the size of previous budgets. The new Income Inflation Reduction Act is granting the nation’s premier tax collection service $45.6 billion for “enforcement-related funds.”
But in the aftermath of the revelation that the IRA will be sending auditors door-to-door to squeeze middle class taxpayers came word of a harrowing new IRS job description that sought out agents who “carry firearms” and are willing to “use deadly force” if necessary.
The IRS is hiring new special agents!
Requirements include working min “50 hours per week, which may include irregular hours, and be on-call 24/7, including holidays and weekends” and “Carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”https://t.co/uvwbrAkIit pic.twitter.com/z0aVX6uoMr
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) August 10, 2022
“The IRS is hiring new special agents!” investigator Ford Fischer wroter. “Requirements include working min ’50 hours per week, which may include irregular hours, and be on-call 24/7, including holidays and weekends’ and ‘Carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.'”
“As a Special Agent you will combine your accounting skills with law enforcement skills to investigate financial crimes,” the job posting read.
“No matter what the source, all income earned, both legal and illegal, has the potential of becoming involved in crimes which fall within the investigative jurisdiction of the IRS Criminal Investigation. Because of the expertise required to conduct these complex financial investigations, IRS Special Agents are considered the premier financial investigators for the Federal government,” the job posting continued.
The IRS job posting has now been deleted, Diana Glebova of National Review Online reports.
However, the Internal Revenue Service has a page for a IRS Criminal Investigations Special Agent that reflects the job posting’s qualifications.
“Criminal Investigation (CI) is the law enforcement branch of the IRS,” the website states. “Our mission is to serve the American public by investigating potential criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code, and related financial crimes, in a manner that fosters confidence in the tax system and compliance with the law.”
“As a Special Agent you will combine your accounting skills with law enforcement skills to investigate financial crimes,” the IRS says. “Special Agents are duly sworn law enforcement officers who are trained to ‘follow the money.’ No matter what the source, all income earned, both legal and illegal, has the potential of becoming involved in crimes which fall within the investigative jurisdiction of the IRS Criminal Investigation. Because of the expertise required to conduct these complex financial investigations, IRS Special Agents are considered the premier financial investigators for the Federal government.”
“Criminal Investigation Special Agents are part of a diverse workforce that mirrors the taxpaying public we serve,” the IRS qualifies.
Key Requirements
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Be 21 years of age by the time that you complete the training academy and no older than 37 years of age at time of appointment.
- Qualify based on education, specialized experience, or a combination of the two.
- Possess a valid driver’s license.
- Pass a background and criminal history record check.
- Pass a pre-employment medical exam.
- Pass a pre-employment drug test.
- Pass a pre-employment tax examination.
- Be legally allowed to carry a firearm.
Major Duties
- Adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially in maintaining honesty and integrity.
- Work a minimum of 50 hours per week, which may include irregular hours, and be on-call 24/7, including holidays and weekends.
- Maintain a level of fitness necessary to effectively respond to life-threatening situations on the job.
- Be willing and able to participate in arrests, execution of search warrants, and other dangerous assignments.
It is unclear how many of the maximum 87,000 IRS agents would be participating in such a dangerous field of work, but it is clear that the number of audits of middle class taxpayers is set to go up. Vox noted in April 2019 that the IRS tends to target the “working poor.”
“You would think that the IRS, in an effort to bring in more money, would focus primarily on auditing wealthy taxpayers,” Vox states. “But as ProPublica’s Paul Kiel and Jesse Eisinger found in an incredible, disturbing piece from late last year, recipients of the earned income tax credit (EITC) — one of the US’s biggest anti-poverty programs, aimed almost exclusively at the working poor — were twice as likely to be audited as people earning $200,000 to $500,000.”
A map was then provided to show “where the IRS audits more.” However, while Vox attempts to twist the map into showing how minorities were being targeted, the analysts apparently can’t see the forest from the trees.
These are red counties in deep red areas. Deep blue areas such as San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. have low levels of audits versus the national average, despite being heavily populated with minorities.
The IRS employee union has donated 99% of its contributions to Democrats, including $601,759 in PAC funding to Democrat party committees, according to Open Secrets.
The IRS is denying that its federal agents will be targeting middle-class taxpayers and its deletion of the job post about agents who must be able to ‘carry firearms’ and ‘use deadly force if necessary’ is indicative of sensitivity about a brewing public relations nightmare.
But if the Democrats’ recent legislation is any indication, Americans will have more than a public relations nightmare on their hands.
Current Founder, CEO and Chief Editor of Becker News. Former Writer & Associate Producer at Fox News for #1 top-rated prime-time cable news show. Former Director of Viral Media and Senior Managing Editor for award-winning startup website IJReview, which grew to a readership of 20-30 million Americans a month. Led editorial and social media team that was #1 ranked news & politics publisher on Facebook for story engagement. Writer whose thousands of digital articles have been read by over 100 million unique users.