Hungerford: Gutting the IRS and new retirement legislation
(WorldNews Business)

My column today is very unusual. I am writing to both condemn and praise Congress. My disgust with our elected representatives focuses on their shabby treatment of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that will collect about $3.5 trillion for Uncle Sam this year. On the other hand, Congress deserves kudos for its current bipartisan effort to improve retirement legislation. Why has Congress consistently reduced IRS appropriations since 2010 despite a more complicated tax code caused by the Affordable Care Act and numerous other tax changes? For 2010, Congress appropriated $13.9 billion for the IRS; for 2018 that number had dropped to $11.43 billion - a stunning 18 percent decline. This year the...