THE ANSWER TO THE APPARENT INCONSISTENCY OF THE IRS SPENDING AND BUDGET FIGURES?

I think I found the answer to the apparent inconsistency I mentioned recently between the IRS budget and IRS spending.  This chart makes it appear that the spending figures for the IRS include amounts disbursed by the federal government under “refundable” tax credits (meaning tax programs where you can get money back from the government in excess of the tax that you owe) such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (“EITC”).  

If the chart is correct, spending on IRS administration has increased, but only gradually, while the amounts disbursed under refundable tax credits have exploded.

Anyway, it doesn't change my opinion that with a budget of over $7 billion for new information technology for the period 2012 through 2014, it's pretty hard to believe that the IRS' professed inability to retain and recover its employees' emails is due to under-funding.