Elon Musk: The U.S. Internal Revenue Service plans to recruit 87,000 people to investigate the tax

Elon Musk, CEO of US electric car maker Tesla, mocked the US Internal Revenue Service’s plans to hire 87,000 new employees on his personal social media Twitter. The IRS plans to hire more employees using funds appropriated by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress is expected to pass in the coming days. Musk commented on his personal social media: "Fate likes sarcasm" and distributed an emoji, which means that the United States initially broke with the United Kingdom on tax issues.

Musk tweeted a screenshot of a British military officer in the movie "Patriot," with the caption, "Country that resisted taxes hires 87,000 new IRS agents."

They're not just checking you, they're checking us, one Twitter user replied. Musk responded, Yes. I've defaulted to annual audits.

An announcement on the IRS website for a "criminal investigation special agent that mentioned being able to "lawfully carry a firearm" as a "key requirement" for applicants has been removed. Applicants must also be "willing and able to participate in arrests, execution of search warrants and other dangerous tasks," as well as "willingness to use lethal force, the announcement said.

The hiring will more than double the current size of the IRS workforce. Some argue that an expanded IRS will add $124 billion to government revenue over the next decade. That way, they say, the IRS will be better equipped to investigate the wealthy and big corporations.