According to Elon Musk, the mission of the Department of Government Efficiency is to save taxpayers’ money and to reduce the national debt. Clearly, we have heard numerous ideological messages about its successes, but is DOGE making substantive progress in fulfilling its mission?

As a tax professional and an instructor in the California State University, Northridge, masters of taxation program, I live in the world of taxation and tax policy. Over the past 30 years, I have seen a steady erosion in the IRS’ ability to fulfill its mission. Years of budget cuts and headcount reductions have seriously impaired the IRS’ ability to audit the complex returns of high-wealth individuals, multinational corporations and Wall Street entities. Consequently, the IRS shifted its audit approach to examining simpler returns.

Between 2010 and 2020, there was a 35% reduction in IRS audits of corporations. In 2021, a firm called Calcbench analyzed the financial statements of 467 of the S&P 500 companies. In particular, Calcbench looked to see how much these companies’ 2020 income tax expense was reduced because the statute of limitations had expired for prior year returns in which aggressive positions were claimed. Those 467 corporations reported........

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