We came to Washington with a similar mission: fight for Florida families, for freedom and for the kind of economic opportunity that lets every American chase their dream. President Donald Trump came here for the same reason.
But a threat to this mission continues to exist in the IRS, a bloated, unaccountable agency that, under Joe Biden, turned into a weapon against working Americans.
That’s changing now.
President Trump made a smart move by putting Scott Bessent in charge at the IRS. He’s a businessman, not a bureaucrat. He knows how to get things done and understands what matters: getting results, protecting taxpayers and getting the IRS out of the business of harassing Americans. That’s a win for every American who’s ever tried to follow the rules and still ended up under audit.
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Bessent has already started clearing out the Biden-era holdovers who turned the agency into a tool for their political agenda. That’s great news. But it’s only step one.
A recent report from the Treasury inspector general found that audits targeting taxpayers skyrocketed in 2024, and that the agency is on track to fulfill its obligations under Biden’s 2022 agency directive.
Here’s what we need next: end the job-killing tax policies the Biden administration forced onto Florida families and small businesses that are still occurring today. The focus needs to be on reducing the size and increasing the efficiency of the IRS, improving transparency, protecting Americans' private information and strengthening customer service.
The first place to start is ending Revenue Ruling 2014-14, a nightmare policy that has created total confusion for Americans across the country. It forced business owners into a corner, making them choose between conflicting rules and risking IRS audits either way. That’s not how you grow jobs. That’s how you shut down small businesses.
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And this isn’t just theory. We hear from Floridians across the state, from businesses small and large, that Biden’s IRS made it harder to hire, invest and grow. Biden approved $70 billion for 87,000 new IRS agents to make sure they squeeze every penny possible out of American families. Because of that, Floridians don’t trust that their government has their back. They’re doing the right thing, and still, they’re looking over their shoulders, waiting for the IRS to come knocking.
That fear kills jobs. It limits opportunity. And it hits Florida harder than most, because we’re a state built on entrepreneurship, where anything is possible.
Secretary Bessent gets it. He’s pledged to bring the IRS back to basics: collect revenue, protect privacy and serve the taxpayer. No politics, no games, no harassment.
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With Trump leading and Bessent executing, we finally have a shot to fix this broken agency. But we’ve got to finish the job.
That means scrapping Revenue Ruling 2014-14 and any Biden policy that punishes job creators. It means ending selective enforcement that targets conservatives and lets liberals off the hook.
These are quick actions the IRS can take to give families, retirees and business owners the certainty they need to build and grow.
In Florida, we don’t want handouts, we want freedom. The freedom to work hard, create jobs and live out the American Dream without the IRS breathing down our necks.
President Trump and Scott Bessent are delivering real results. Now Congress needs to back them up and make these reforms permanent. The IRS should work for the people, not against them.
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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM REP. BYRON DONALDS
Republican Byron Donalds represents Florida's 19th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.