By TOM GANTERT, ELYSE APEL AND BRETT ROWLAND
THE CENTER SQUARE STAFF REPORTER
(The Center Square) — An Internal Revenue Service job posting for criminal investigation special agents that require applicants be willing to “carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force” may not apply to a bill to reportedly increase the IRS by 86,852 full-time positions by the year 2031.
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-T.N., asked on his personal Twitter account: “Why do the 87,000 new IRS auditors need to ‘be willing to use deadly force’?”
But the job posting was for a criminal investigations special agent, not an IRS auditor.
“Democrats want to hire 87,000 IRS auditors and recruit law enforcement agents who can use deadly force to seize money from the middle-class for a government that just drove us into a recession,” Rep. Burchett said in a statement after being asked about the tweet. “Meanwhile, I am still hearing from East Tennesseans who haven’t received their tax returns from years ago. The Biden administration needs to focus on returning the money it owes to the American people, not snatching more money away from hardworking taxpayers.”
IRS Criminal Investigation has 3,500 employees, and 2,500 are special agents whose jurisdiction includes money laundering, terrorism and Bank Secrecy Act laws. According to the IRS, investigations include “currency violations, tax-related identity theft fraud and terrorist financing that adversely affects tax administration.”
The IRS completed 2,766 criminal investigations in 2021, according to agency records.
The IRS special agent for criminal investigations job posting says applicants must be willing to “carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”
The Inflation Reduction Act would add $78 billion to the IRS. A treasury report from May 2021 projects that type of investment in the IRS would mean 86,852 more FTEs but doesn’t specify how those jobs would be allocated.
