Jack Kingston: “If I can reclaim my time, Mr. Speaker, here is something interesting. The gentleman keeps using the word ``culture.''…”

“If I can reclaim my time, Mr. Speaker, here is something interesting. The gentleman keeps using the word ``culture.'' One of the finds of this committee is that the culture is so insular that only 5 of the top 73 IRS employees have been with the agency less than 15 years. Other than the commissioner, only two non-IRS employees have been brought in from the outside world to fill senior positions at the IRS. It is interesting, because quite frequently we read in the newspaper that the CEO of General Motors or one of the senior VPs goes to Ford, or the head guy of CBS goes to NBC, or whatever. We see that all the time in the private sector, where top level management leaders are moving from one corporation to the other. I think it is a good blood mixture; it is good for everybody. But apparently the IRS does not believe in that. That could be one of their problems. Here are some more statistics. The IRS still hand-processes the vast majority of returns and still relies on papers, 14 billion pieces of paper annually. It costs the IRS about $7 to process a paper return, and less than $1 if it is done electronically. But electronically does not necessarily answer the question, because an IRS agent may have to access six different computer systems to resolve a taxpayer problem, and to answer questions, simple questions, often because of this, takes weeks and weeks. It is just too complicated. Since 1956, the number of sections in the Tax Code has risen from 102 to 698.”