Was anyone surprised to learn that the latest IRS Commissioner, Billy Long, has been fired by President Trump after being in the job for only two months? (Mr. Long is now expected to be nominated as the U.S. Ambassador to Iceland.) He was the fifth Commissioner or Acting Commissioner in a period of only seven months.
One has to wonder why the President chose Billy Long to serve as the IRS Commissioner in the first place.
He was a Congressman from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. His background before being elected was as an auctioneer and real estate agent. He had never completed college. The only tax credentials he had ever received were a designation as a “Certified Tax and Business Advisor,” a title given after he took a 3-day class from a business in West Palm Beach called Excel Empire. After getting this certificate, he was involved with companies that assisted businesses and nonprofits in applying for the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), a credit available in 2020 and 2021 for employers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From my own experience as both a tax preparer and tax payer, I have found the civil servants who work at the IRS are some of the smartest and most competent in the federal government. It makes me wonder how these tax professionals kept up their morale with Mr. Long as their Commissioner.
Add to that the effects of the DOGE project on IRS employees. Since January of this year, an estimated 25,000 people have left the agency.
More than 266 million tax returns were filed with the IRS in Fiscal Year 2024, collecting more than $5 trillion in tax revenue and $98 billion in enforcement revenue.
I feel fortunate to live in a country where, at least until now, I can file my tax returns and feel confident that they will be processed by an agency that abides by the rules, keeps my records confidential, sends me refunds or credits my payments in an orderly and efficient manner.
Stability and consistency in our tax laws and collection policies are also necessary for a thriving American business community.
The IRS deserves good leadership in order to maintain the public trust. The backbone of a healthy U.S. financial system depends on a well-functioning Internal Revenue Service.
As we recently learned when President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he believed the numbers to be wrong, this step is more evidence that this Administration does not value the rules that have been in place to ensure fairness and accuracy, but would rather kowtow to the political whims of the President and his advisors.
Elaine Tama
Easton
