LETTER: Underfunded IRS needed a boost

In response to your Sunday editorial “Swarms of officers to harass our people”: Clever headline. “Swarms” denotes something menacing. But considering the Republicans have been underfunding the IRS for years, this increase in IRS personnel spread over nine years or so is long overdue.

You note that “while the top 1 percent account for 28 percent ($163 billion) of the $600 billion ‘tax gap’ … the bottom 90 percent of wage earners account for 35.5 percent of the shortfall, or $231 billion.” So “there’s plenty of money to be generated by siccing IRS agents on the middle class.” Conveniently left out is the top 10 percent of taxpayers.

Updated statistics show the top 10 percent of taxpayers pay 70.8 percent of taxes. The bottom 90 percent of taxpayers, 29.2 percent. So, contrary to the article, it is cost effective to do more audits of those in the top 10 percent as they pay more then double of what the bottom 90 percent pay.