IRS chief seeks to restore public trust, faces lack of funding

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said he will work to restore public trust and acquire more funding for the agency. Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In his first office visit since taking over the beleaguered agency, recently appointed IRS Commissioner John Koskinen visited the Cincinnati branch to express his commitment to rebuilding the IRS' reputation in the public eye.

"It's going to take all our mettle" to restore public trust in the Internal Revenue Service, Koskinen said Thursday during his visit to Ohio.
The Cincinnati offices were at the center of last year's scandal when the IRS was accused of unfairly scrutinizing conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. The IRS acknowledged last May that agents in Cincinnati as well as Washington improperly selected political groups for extra screening, raising allegations of political bias at the IRS. The controversy to the resignation of acting commissioner Steven Miller.

Koskinen, who was sworn in as IRS commissioner in late December, visited Cincinnati on the same day National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson delivered her annual report to Congress.

In her list of the 20 major problems facing taxpayers, Olson called for a Taxpayer Bill of Rights and expressed her concern for a lack of IRS funding. Olson wrote that the list of problems "mask the major problem facing the IRS today -- unstable and chronic underfunding that puts at risk the IRS's ability to meet its current responsibilities, much less articulate and achieve the necessary transformation to an effective, modern tax agency."

The IRS commissioner said he would ask Congress for additional funding for the agency.

H/T Bridget Bowman