Adrian Smith: “I want to point out that most folks in this room today and right now understand that there is an effort underway to…”

“I want to point out that most folks in this room today and right now understand that there is an effort underway to pursue tax reform, to make our Tax Code simpler, easier to enforce, and to actually prevent the need to even pass legislation such as the IRS OWES Act. Until such time, we need legislation like this because it will bring much-needed transparency to an agency with a proven track record of poor management. The IRS' offenses include targeting taxpayers and irresponsibly directing resources away from its core function of taxpayer services, resulting in the abysmal 2015 tax filing system. It has probably been said in this room before, but this simple bill would subject IRS user fees to congressional oversight by directing them to the Treasury's general fund and subjecting them to the congressional appropriations process. In 2014, the IRS only used 44 percent of its user fees account on taxpayer services. Last year this number dropped significantly, with the IRS using only 10 percent of its user fees account on taxpayer services. American taxpayers all over the country felt the pain of that choice last year. Our tax system depends on voluntary compliance. Poor taxpayer assistance like the IRS provided last year would likely encourage taxpayers to perhaps cheat and actually make it more difficult for taxpayers to even comply. According to a GAO report, last year only 38 percent of callers wanting to speak to an IRS representative were able to reach one.…”