But our tax code is so complex.
Our job is to administer the law in a balanced, fair way. We have a unique perspective at the IRS: We interact with people every day. We see where honest mistakes are made, where there are gray areas.
How can you fix the gray areas?
My focus is simplification. Taxpayers get caught in the law’s nuances. The senior staff and I spend a lot of time trying to help Congress and the administration see places to simplify. We’ve gone in the wrong direction on simplification.
Your agency has a $12B budget. Will that be cut?
If we’re given a smaller job, I wouldn’t advocate for a bigger budget. Our job is to serve the American people as public servants. We have a staff appropriate to handle that. If the task changed, we would change that.
Has a commissioner ever been audited?
Almost every competent tax lawyer in the federal government takes a look at your returns as you become commissioner to make sure you don’t embarrass the president or the Treasury secretary. I don’t know about audits.
Are you agnostic about tax policy – is the IRS all about service?
I consider the agency apolitical. We try to stay out of the fray of policy but in the fray of making it as easy as possible for Americans to interact with the tax code that’s on the books.