In the State of the Union, the occupier of the Oval Office made some pretty outrageous claims about the "massive tax cuts" that are going to "provide tremendous relief for the middle class." That's been debunked to death by fact-checkers, but that doesn't mean that Trump or Republicans are going to stop lying about it. It's just about all they got to take to voters between now and November, so they'll milk it for all it's worth. But here's their problem—not only are most people not going to see massive tax relief in their paychecks, they're going to be very confused by the new law.
When they call the IRS to get help out of their confusion, they're not going to find it. That's because the IRS has been starved of resources for years. The proposed budgets from congressional appropriations committees include even more cuts. That's a recipe for disaster.
As a result [of the new law], the IRS will need to provide extensive guidance to taxpayers, update its systems and forms, undertake significant public education, expand customer service, and, importantly, strengthen enforcement in the years to come. This challenge is magnified by the IRS's shrunken budget and depleted workforce. Its budget was cut by $2.4 billion, or 18 percent, between 2010 and 2017, after adjusting for inflation, and the agency has lost 18,000 employees (nearly one-fifth of its workforce), with enforcement personnel accounting for roughly four-fifths of this reduction. […]
Reportedly, the IRS estimates that it will need roughly $500 million in 2018 and 2019 for implementation of the new law. Any funding increase should start from last year's levels, not from the lower levels in the House and Senate appropriations bills. Those bills were drafted before the tax law's enactment and merely continued the same misguided policy of undermining the IRS's ability to perform its core functions of collecting taxes, providing service to taxpayers, and enforcing the nation's tax laws.
The IRS is not going to be able to answer the damned phones this April, which is not going to make anyone happier about their tax situation. That's the political side of this. A voting population which is already convinced that the tax law isn't going to help them much will then have to go through the confusion and headaches when it comes to trying to file. That's not going to make the law any more popular.
On the larger front, this is just more malfeasance from Republicans who are hellbent on destroying the government they are paid—by us—to serve. Destroying the IRS is part and parcel of what was behind the tax law, making sure rich people can hang onto as much of their money as possible by whatever means possible. Including starving the agency charged with collecting their taxes.