It was 80,000 employees, not agents (Revenue Agents or CI Agents), the total includes IT, customer service, return processing/mailroom, legal research/appeals, HR, etc. across the entire organization.
Fun fact, the IRS has people that go out to oil refineries and make sure the transfers are being reported accurately and tax-free diesel is dyed correctly. They have people who advise the State Department on negotiating tax treaties.
Additionally, the total was an estimate of how many employees could be hired through 2031, including backfilling positions. Over half of all IRS employees are currently eligible for retirement, so significant departures are expected in the coming years.
Since you brought up refinery visits in the context of 80,000 hires I guess it is significant. Do you have an estimate of how many full time positions are for going to refineries to look at red diesel? Is this something a State could do?
No, but there is a contingent of Congress that does not want to make tax preparation easier because placating tax prep companies aligns with their campaign fundraising strategy. I assume that our president was one of them when he was a senator, and continues to be friends with legislators who are included in that contingent.
Is this why the current president hired 80000 new IRS agents instead of making a simple system that presents this electronically for confirmation?