As the ranking member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee's subcommittee on oversight, Rep.. Mike Kelly, R-16th, is looking to ensure taxpayers are getting their fair shake.

“We are the biggest or the most powerful committee in the Congress with great jurisdictional power, but also great responsibility,” Kelly said.

One of those responsibilities, Kelly said, is making sure the Internal Revenue Service isn't unfairly targeting people based on their political or religious affiliations and making sure it's an advocate of the taxpayer, rather than an adversary.

So when House Democrats and President Joe Biden called for the inclusion of additional IRS funding to the tune of $80 billion over the next decade in a proposed infrastructure package, for the purpose of enforcing tax laws and collecting funds from those who cheat the system, Kelly balked.

It struck a nerve with the 10-year congressman, who two years ago tried reframing the IRS as a friend, rather than a foe, of the American taxpayer — an agency from which to seek help, not to seek cover.

Kelly seized on the last word in the IRS' name — “Service” — to describe its role in the U.S. revenue-collecting system.“Part of their job is enforcement. They're collectors,” Kelly said. “But the most important thing is that we have to treat hard-working American taxpayers with respect.”There's no reason the average resident should fear the tax man, Kelly said. In fact, that was the purpose of legislation he, along with the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., wrote in 2019, which overhauled the tax-collection agency for the first time in 20 years.The driving point of the Taxpayer First Act, he said, was to nudge the IRS to “not to be the most-feared agency in the federal government.”Kelly noted the IRS' job is important for the federal government's work. But, he said, there should be some give and take.“I do believe we have to do a better job of collecting every cent of revenue that we're due, and by the same token, we need to handle every question the taxpayers have to ask,” he said. “If they've overpaid, they need to get their money back. It needs to be fair and balanced, where everyone gets the same (treatment).”The Butler-based congressman said he's heard concerns from his constituents about their tax returns filed during the past two years. Moreover, he said, many have contacted his office about not receiving COVID-19 stimulus checks.Kelly said some have even called his office saying they haven't heard answers from the IRS about their unprocessed tax returns.Providing funding for the IRS to enforce tax laws, but not for the agency to answer taxpayers' questions or to promptly process tax returns, is not a solution, Kelly said.“A one-size-fits-all (solution) is what we seek to get, and we have to find a way to be more of an advocate and not an adversary to the people who provide every single penny to run this incredible machine called the United States of America,” Kelly said.

It's not just the length of time it takes for the IRS to process tax returns that gives Kelly pause.“The IRS has a really bad track record, going back to Lois Lerner, with divulging people's tax returns,” he said.In 2013, Lerner, director of the IRS' Exempt Organizations Unit, became embroiled in a controversy over the targeting of politically-aligned groups for audits of their tax-exempt applications. A federal investigation completed in 2015 found mismanagement but no basis for criminal prosecution.That fear was intensified when The New York Times, in September 2020, obtained decades of former President Donald Trump's tax filings. Then, in June, ProPublica published a story utilizing years of tax information from the country's richest people.“I said at that time, 'Hey, if this agency will find a way to reveal the tax returns of the president of the United States, what makes any of us, as everyday citizens, feel secure?'” he said. “(Tax information is) supposed to be known only to the agency itself. It's not supposed to be put out for publication.”More than that, Kelly said, it's outrageous the service has shown bias toward some religious organizations. As an example, he cited a Christian group denied a 501(c)(3) nonprofit designation because it had “too much in common with the Republican Party,” Kelly said.While the group won an appeal on that decision, Kelly said it still shows the service's biases.He noted decisions like those should be criticized, but he believes too many people are afraid of IRS retribution to do so.“I think, if that's the case in the United States of America, that we're to the point we're so afraid of our government we don't call out something that's wrong when it's wrong, then we've really lost touch with things,” he said.

Kelly certainly doesn't think the IRS is infallible. Nor does he think it shouldn't be updated.“I'm in favor of reforming the IRS,” Kelly said. “I really am. I have no problem with that.”He simply has two views that diverge from the Democrats' proposal to bolster the agency's enforcement power.The first, he said, is that there needs to be a clear plan for improvement to justify the additional dollars Congress allocates.“Who in the hell would ever say, 'Oh, you need $80 billion? OK, we'll give it to you,'” he said. “I agree that they need to be updated, but we need to know what it is that needs upgraded, where those investments are going and what the return on that is for the people who provide every cent, and that's the American taxpayers.”If the agency can show the individual steps it would take and a positive return on investment for each cost incurred, that would be acceptable, he said. But that hasn't happened.“I just don't believe in giving blank checks out, especially when it's other people's money,” Kelly added.Second, Kelly said he wants to continue the rebrand from adversary to advocate.“I'm not an enemy of the IRS, but I am a proponent and an advocate on behalf of the hardworking U.S. taxpayers,” he said. “I think what we're trying to do — it's basic, right? — is about fairness.”