IRS is armed to the teeth. Why do they need guns?

Everett WA

Description

The IRS has a very hard job to do, especially now. But you might wonder about the IRS inventory of weapons. An official report says that at the end of 2017, the tax agency had 4,487 guns and 5,062,006 rounds of ammunition in its weapons inventory. So says this report published by the Government Accountability Office. The IRS isn't the only agency with guns, of course. Many federal agencies are reviewed and assessed in the GAO study, with this not exactly page-turning title: Purchases and Inventory Controls of Firearms, Ammunition, and Tactical Equipment (GAO-19-175) (Dec 13, 2018). It was also noted on the influential TaxProf Blog. Some of the guns the IRS has are not for the faint of heart, including a few fully automatic guns. Yes, those are machine guns. Only the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS gets to carry guns. Compared to seeing gun-toting IRS Agents at your door, a correspondence audit doesn’t sound so bad. This year the IRS spent over $731,000 on guns and has 5 million rounds of ammo. One old audit report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration covering 2009 to 2011 said that IRS Agents accidentally discharged their guns 11 times during that time. That may not be a perfect safety record, although given the size of the IRS, it doesn't sound too bad. Interestingly, the old TIGTA report also says that IRS agents fired their guns accidentally more times than they did intentionally. Some of the misfires caused property damage or personal injury. A few defendants in criminal tax cases have tried to suppress evidence based on the IRS carrying guns. In United States v. Adams, the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Charles Adams’ conviction for conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing payroll tax collections and tax evasion. Mr. Adams was convicted despite his argument that the IRS agents carrying guns was not allowed by law. Mr. Adams was essentially treated as a tax protester, which is clearly a pejorative term. Even so, he isn’t the first taxpayer to be unhappy about the IRS having weapons. In fact, an IRS business card can cause more heart palpitations than the CIA, FBI, or Department of Justice. You don’t need to see a firearm to get weak in the knees.