Last year threats on the IRS have increased and in the past few weeks the IRS has been receiving threats at an increasing rate. The National Treasury Employees Union seems to believe that the threats are increasing because of the actions taken by Joseph Stack, the man who flew his plane into the IRS building last month which killed himself and one other IRS employee. Was it the plane crash that caused an increase in threats or is it the fact that the IRS is getting more complex and difficult to deal with each year?
The IRS is investigating 70+ possibly threats/inappropriate comments made to various IRS workers since the attack on the IRS building. The Wall Street Journal says that threats on the IRS have seen about a 11% increase over 2008. In 2008, about 900 threats were made against the IRS and about 1,000 threats in 2009. Threats seem to be a common part of IRS dealings each year and they have been on the steady incline for years.did
It makes you wonder if the National Treasury Employees Union is trying to use the plane crash as a way of justifying the increase in IRS threats. It is a fact that each year that goes by the IRS does get more complex and makes the lives of individuals harder and harder. Joe Stack’s suicide attack on the IRS quite possibly could have raised awareness to people that the IRS is difficult and they are not alone with their tax problems. There are also many other factors that could cause for the increase in threat, such as the fact that it is tax time now, the tax code did get more complex over the last year, and many people are running into problems with paying the IRS at an increasing rate because of the poor economy.
In a democratic nation like our own, the public chooses the individuals in charge of creating a tax system. These elected officials try their best to try to create a type of community that the public wants by changing tax policy. Are IRS threats increasing because the US people are not getting the type of community that they want? Has the IRS gotten too complex? Taxes are constantly debated and tax laws are changed to try to be fair to everyone. There is no doubt that taxes are an essential part of any strong country. This just may be one of those issues that will always be ongoing because it is not possible to please everyone and also some individuals will never understand how essential taxes are for the country.
