For the business owner and tax practitioner, the most important part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was not the tax credit for flashy new electric cars.

It was something much more basic: a long-term budget commitment to help the struggling, failing IRS.

The Inflation Reduction Act invests an additional $80 billion in the IRS over the next 10 years. This is the biggest budget increase the IRS has ever received. To put this in perspective, it is almost six times the IRS’s annual $13.8 billion budget.

Some politicians have raised the specter of 87,000 new gun-toting revenue agents scouring the land, looking for tax evaders. This is patently ridiculous.

But the new funding will impact all taxpayers. The average taxpayer should benefit because the IRS will be able to upgrade its operations and improve its woeful levels of service.

On the other hand, the well-above-average taxpayer should look out: the bulked-up IRS will be gunning for you.

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