IRS faces new scrutiny for excessive spending on conferences

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2. That doesn't really seem like all that much money for 220 conferences.

Considering the training needs for an organization of that size, whose employees must stay abreast of complex regulations and interpretations that change every year, those figures don't seem facially "excessive" to me, nor does the need to come together in conferences seem extraordinary -- again for an organization the size of the IRS whose work is rather complex. The need for organizational consistency would seem to be rather high, and face-to-face seminars can be a superior way to achieve that.

If you assume 200 employees per seminar it works out to about $1,000 per employee. Quality professional training and development are very expensive. IRS officials, accountants, auditors, etc. are generally highly educated professionals. Again, the figure doesn't seem necessarily high to me, although the devil is in the details.

I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't expect those figures to be out of line with the training and seminar budget for a comparable, private concern (not that you could find a precisely comparable private concern -- but I'm thinking something like Exxon-Mobil).