The IRS helps American’s understand and meet their tax responsibilities, and they administer and enforce the internal revenue laws. They had a rough start on July 1, 1862 when they were commissioned to collect taxes to pay civil war expenses. Ten years later, it was repealed but was activated again in 1894 until the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional.
Establishing the IRS
The 16th Amendment to the constitution was ratified in 1913 and gave Congress the authority to enact an income tax. That same year, Congress levied a 1% tax on net personal incomes above $3,000 with a 6% surtax on incomes of more than $500,000.
In 1918, during World War I, the top income tax rate rose to 77% to help finance the war effort. It dropped to 24% in the post war years and rose again during the Great Depression. Congress introduced payroll withholding and quarterly tax payments during World War II.
Today, the IRS code impacts most of everything we do today, from cradle to grave. Their web site lists their mission and states, “The IRS role is to help the large majority of compliant taxpayers with the tax law, while ensuring that the minority who are unwilling to comply pay their fair share.”
Inflation Reduction Act Hiring
Congress approved $80 billion in funding over the next 10 years for new agents and support staff under the Inflation Reduction Act. Over a thousand new IRS job announcements are now posted on USAJOBS for IRS agents, computer operators, logistics, tax examining technicians, accountants, and everything in between.
Open Job Announcements
When I first heard of the hiring push, I was skeptical and thought the numbers were exaggerated. However, after reviewing the 1114 active job announcements for all hiring paths, I understand the magnitude of their hiring initiatives. Even though hiring extends over a 10-year period; the numbers are staggering by any standard. In my 35+ years working in government or providing guidance for those employed and retired, I’ve never saw anything like this.
Over 75% of the announcements are targeted to those already working in government and those positions once vacated would require more hiring to back fill agency losses! Lots of jobs everywhere.
The first five job announcements posted online advertise 74 positions nationwide. I decided to add the total positions for the first 25 announcements and discovered they advertised 458 vacancies at multiple locations across the country.
I divided the 1114 active job announcements by 25 and came up with 44.56. If you multiply 44 times the 458 positions identified in the first 25 announcements that adds up to 20,408 IRS vacancies! Quite a number by any standard.
Jobs Open to the Public
I spent several hours going through many of the announcements to see if the first 25 were an anomaly. They weren’t. Then I limited my job search to the 189 job announcements open to the public. The first 25 announcements advertised 5,697 vacancies. One of them was for 3410 seasonal clerk positions.
Anyone looking for a secure, high paying, benefit loaded government job should explore these nationwide listings. Training is offered to IRS agents and includes fire arm instructions. Here is a brief list of a few of the job titles available, everything from student positions, part time to full time work across the country and in many specialties:
- Computer Operator
- Intake Advocates and Technicians
- Financial Analysts & Estate Tax Specialists
- Tax Examiners
- Mathematics Statistician
- Seasonal Laborers
- HR Specialists
- Economist
- Actuary
- Attorneys
- General Engineer
There are many opportunities for those looking for a challenging job with the IRS. Most of these jobs were posted for a 12-month period and will time out later this year.
