Minor memos

Minor memos

June 06, 2016 | By Keith Martin in Washington, DC

The Republican-led House voted in April to bar the IRS from hiring anyone new as long as any IRS employee owes a tax debt. Budget cuts have forced a 19% reduction in the number of IRS employees since 2010. There has been a 27% reduction in IRS agents who do audits. IRS audits of partnerships are down 23% and of mid-sized corporations with $10 million to $250 million in annual revenue are down 42%. Audits of large corporations with more than $250 million in annual revenue are down 7% . . . . The United States installed 8,600 megawatts of additional wind generating capacity in 2015, an 80% increase over 2014, the American Wind Energy Association reported in late April. Total US wind capacity stood at 74,472 MWs at the end of 2015. Another 520 MWs of wind turbines were installed in Q1 2016, the fastest first quarter growth since 2012. At least 10,100 MWs of new wind farms were under construction during the first quarter.