Elon Musk mocks IRS for hiring 87,000 new agents

Elon Musk, the billionaire troll, mocked the IRS for hiring an additional 87,000 employees on Thursday.

The IRS will be making the hires using funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, which is expected to pass through Congress in the coming days. Musk said Fate loves irony and posted a meme on Twitter that pointed out that the U.S. broke with England for the first time over taxes.

When the country that revolted over taxes hires 87,000 new IRS agents, the meme reads, and placed above a picture of a laughing British Army officer from the movie The Patriot.

One Twitter user replied that they're not going after you, they're coming after us, to which Musk responded, True. I get audited by default every year. The new hiring is criticized by Republicans, who have cited a job posting on the IRS website that seeks criminal investigation special agents. The posting, which has now been deleted, stated that being legally allowed to carry a firearm is a key requirement for applicants. The posting said that applicants must be willing to participate in arrests, execution of search warrants, and other dangerous assignments, as well as be willing to use deadly force. The IRS has doubled its size because of the new hiring. Over the next decade, Democrats argue that a bolstered IRS will generate more than $124 billion in government revenue. They say the organization will be better equipped to target wealthy individuals and corporations.