$6.87

Why that number? It illustrates a serious problem that is costing all of us money, unnecessarily. The initial return I filed showed that I owed $204.00 which I paid via direct debit from my bank account. Then I filed the amended return, in March of 2022. The direct debit was still active and I paid the corrected balance of $198 by direct debit. That left me with a $204 credit balance. The credit showed on my tax account transcript as far back as June. I was not issued my refund until six months later. As a result, I was paid $6.87 in interest because of the protracted delay.

The interest is mandated by law. The problem is the IRS has been decimated by Congress over the last two decades.

The Congress of the United States chose to fund the IRS so that they had thier enforcement staffing cut by over 15,000 people between 2010 and 2021. They did not increase funding when they tasked the IRS with processing stimulus checks in addition to their regular duties. What was the result of those staffing cuts?

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities issued a report that showed the "Tax Gap" was $441 billion per year between 2011 and 2013. What is the Tax Gap? That is the amount of income tax that is not paid voluntarily and on time. The gap has only grown since then. Every additional dollar allocated to IRS funding will generate at least two dollars in tax revenue.

As a tax professional, it is my job to ensure that my clients pay the lowest amount of tax while stayng in compliance with the law. That doesn't mean I want to see cuts in IRS funding. I hate having to spend hours dialing the IRS to reach a live person. I hate seeing my client's having to wait 8 or 9 months for a refund from an amended return. These issues could be handled more efficiently if Congress would properly fund the IRS.

Goodness knows that there's enough waste in government spending. What moron decided it was a good idea to spend $118,971 on whether or not Thanos can snap his fingers while wearing the Infinity Glove.

Or when ICE spent $17 million on hotel rooms for illegal immigrants that went unused. And, if we can believe the Rand Paul Festivus report on waste, $1,7 billion to maintain 77,000 empty federal buildings. $1.7 billion in added funding to the IRS would generate at least $3.4 billion in tax revenue.

When I was still in the Air Force and stationed at a very small base in South Korea, we had a saying: "We've done so much with so little for so long, they probabl expect us to be able to do everything with nothing."