In 1996, as evidence of abuses mounted, Roth decided to undertake the first thorough investigation of the IRS in history. The book mostly reports on the findings of his committee. Within the IRS, incentives push agents to try to wring all they can out of taxpayers. Career advancement hinges on how much revenue one can bring in, how many cases one can close, and so on. And of course some agents are quick to resort to brutal property seizures, liens, and levies to collect money, and plain threats and harassment.
Small businesses are favorite targets.
Like any predator, the IRS likes to go after those who are least able to fight back. Roth and Nixon point out that Congress is partly to blame for this terrible state of affairs. Frequent changes in the tax laws have spawned a nightmarishly complicated tax code, creating difficulties for taxpayers. Thus the authors argue, modestly, for a far simpler tax code. The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, enacted following Senator Roth's hearings, was designed to curb the abuse of taxpayers, such as shifting the burden of proof from the taxpayer to the IRS in some circumstances and restricting the use of liens and property seizures.