IRS Moving Forward with Hiring Amid GOP Scrutiny

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is moving ahead with hiring and other operational plans to utilize the $80 billion in additional funding authorized in the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law last year.

In a report this week from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which provides oversight of IRS activities, TIGTA notes that the agency is following established procedures to track its appropriations and spending on activities such as tax enforcement, operations support, modernizing its business systems and taxpayer service. The IRS is currently prioritizing oversight of the upcoming tax filing season and addressing a backlog of tax returns. As of Dec. 2, 2022, there were still over 3.7 million individual and business paper returns waiting to be processed.

While the IRS continues to implement provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, the GOP-majority House on Jan. 10 approved a bill that would rescind almost all of the $80 billion in additional funding for the agency. The bill, passed on a party line vote, cancels funding for stepped-up tax enforcement (nearly $46 billion) and agency operations support ($25 billion).

“The IRS does not need a raise. It needs a reckoning,” said incoming House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO). “House Republicans are ready to provide oversight and accountability and that starts today.”

The bill is not likely to advance as Senate Democrats have denounced the legislation. The White House also issued a statement affirming that President Biden would veto the measure if it reaches his desk.