Assessing IRS Employee Safety; Weighing Use of State Surpluses

TIGTA went spelunking in the IRS “cave.” The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report last month on improving the health and safety of IRS employees at the C-site, an underground file storage site in Independence, Missouri (a.k.a., the “cave”). IRS employees had reported safety concerns, like rocks falling from the ceiling and poor air quality. TIGTA visited and found additional problems, like prohibitions on the use of fire extinguishers in an emergency and the use of ladders to retrieve boxes weighing as much as 50 pounds from shelves as high as 13 feet. IRS experts in May 2023 estimated the agency has 143 million pages of paper documents, which TIGTA says need to be digitized or better accounted for in the site’s safety procedures.  

Georgia lawmakers contemplate how to use of state budget surplus. The state has a $16 billion budget surplus and an additional $11 billion in undesignated funds. During the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers will consider using those excess funds for tax cuts and private school vouchers. 

South Dakota lawmakers have a similar agenda. The state’s revenues have exceeded the legislature’s 2023 forecast by 11 percent, or $115 million, in the first half of the fiscal year. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has proposed making permanent a temporary sales tax cut, which is currently set to expire in three years. Other tax cuts are also on the table, including property tax relief. 

In Idaho, perhaps a private school tax credit. Two Republican state lawmakers have introduced a “parental choice tax credit” program that features two major changes. First, it would allow families at any income level with children in private school to claim a $5,000 tax credit (capped at $40 million annually, available first-come, first-served) for expenses “related to the nonpublic academic instruction.” Second, families who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax credit could be eligible for additional tax relief.

German farmers are protesting plans to ditch diesel tax breaks. They’ve blocked highway access roads in parts of Germany and elsewhere. The road blocks have started a week of protests against the German government’s plan to repeal tax breaks on diesel fuel used in agriculture. 

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