Historically, when tax collection authorities are held with suspicion — as in the recent disclosures that the  IRS has been targeting conservative groups for scrutiny — the country collects less tax. But despite this latest drama, the IRS, which employs hundreds of thousands of people, is “generally very good at what it does,” says  Alice Abreu, a professor of tax policy at Temple’s Beasley School of  Law. “And for that reason congress continues to put more programs and social policy through the tax system,” she says.