House Republicans would slash IRS funding. Their fiscal year 2015 financial services budget includes roughly $11 billion for the IRS. This would cut $341 million from the agency’s current budget, and is $1.5 billion less than the White House request. They are also outraged over lost IRS emails. House Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany, Jr., released a statement yesterday expressing dismay over the IRS' lack of cooperation with House investigations of alleged targeting of political groups. The latest flap: The IRS lost two years of emails belonging to Lois Lerner, who managed the agency’s tax-exempt office, and six other employees. So the House GOP has subpoenaed IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. He will testify next week about the missing emails before Boustany’s oversight subcommittee. Meanwhile, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden asks why the IRS hasn’t closed a hedge fund tax loophole. By running their funds through insurers located in tax havens such as Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, hedge fund managers can defer and reduce taxes on their investments. Often, the insurance companies themselves are mere shells. “The [Treasury] department and the IRS have been aware of this loophole for over a decade,” and “appear to have made no progress in ending this kind of tax abuse,” Wyden said in a letter to the Treasury and IRS. At least taxes in Minnesota aren’t paid in vain. A new report from Michigan Future, Inc., finds that compared to other Great Lakes states, Minnesota is flourishing economically thanks in part to its tax policies. Minnesota’s lowest income tax rate is 5.35 percent, corporate income tax is 9.8 percent, sales tax is 6.875 percent, and its gasoline tax is 28.6 cents per gallon. Minnesota’s economy has outpaced Michigan’s economy since 1990. Interested in subscribing to The Daily Deduction, the Tax Policy Center summary of the day’s tax news? Sign-up here for free access. If you’d like to tell us about a new research paper or have any comments about our new feature, write us at [email protected].