Agency Activism as a New Way of Life: Administrative Modification of the Internal Revenue Code Through Limited Issue Focused Examinations

Abstract

The IRS has begun to get more aggressive. Contrary to what one might expect, however, this new stance has greatly benefitted taxpayers. Due to a lack of proper funding, the agency has found itself in an impossible situation when it comes to enforcing the tax laws. This problem is not new, however, as the IRS has historically never had enough resources to provide for completely effective administration of the tax laws. It knows full well that it cannot audit taxpayers quickly and thoroughly with the resources it currently has. Although the problem is a familiar one, what the IRS has recently been doing about it is cause for concern.
In the name of increasing efficiency and better utilizing limited resources, the IRS has begun to adopt audit policies that overly favor taxpayers and greatly hinder the IRS’s ability to perform thorough audits. Highlighting this trend is a relatively new audit technique used by the Large to Mid-Size Business Division (LMSB), which “serves corporations, subchapter S corporations, and partnerships with assets greater than $10 million.”