Commissioner: IRS Decision to Reduce
Estate Tax Audit Staff Not Political

A group of 25 House Democrats has called on the Internal Revenue Service to reconsider their plan of offering retirement to nearly half of the existing estate tax attorneys who audit estate and gift tax returns. In a July 24 announcement, the IRS said that it intends to offer voluntary retirements to 157 of the 343 current auditors. Opponents of the plan say the move is politically motivated, a charge Commissioner of Internal Revenue Mark Everson has refuted.

At an August 1 congressional hearing on offshore tax abuses held by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Everson explained that the move was precipitated by the need to do more with less, not by politics. He stressed that the number of estate tax returns has dropped by as much as 70 percent since Congress enacted bigger exemptions to the tax, and said this offered an opportunity to free up resources to combat abuse.

"The work on abusive transactions yields double the return of smaller estate tax returns, so it makes good business sense," Everson added. "Until Congress gives me the resources that I ask for, we have to do things like this to make it work."

In a July 28 letter, Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., ranking member of the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, and Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., a senior panel member, said they fear IRS may not be devoting adequate resources to enforcing current and future estate tax laws. Additionally, a group of 23 Democrats called on the IRS to reconsider the retirement package at once.

Back to Articles