October 12,2022

Finance Committee Republicans: IRS Funding Boost Lacks Emphasis on Oversight

Nearly $80 billion cash influx disproportionately favors enforcement over taxpayer services, oversight

Washington D.C.-- U.S. Senate Finance Committee Republicans, led by Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), sent a letter to Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Russell George requesting information on how TIGTA will provide American taxpayers with needed visibility into what the IRS will do with its massive new multi-year funding stream, particularly as just a sliver of this funding is set aside for oversight and taxpayer services, as opposed to tens of billions earmarked for enforcement.  

“The recent boost of nearly $80 billion in supplemental funding for the IRS is devoted disproportionately to enforcement, and likewise disproportionately lacks emphasis on oversight and the need for IRS accountability and transparency to all Americans.

…

“The supersized IRS funding, therefore, asks TIGTA to oversee massive amounts of increased IRS activities disproportionately aimed at enforcement.  Taxpayer services and oversight, unfortunately for taxpayers, received disproportionately little attention.” 

The letter:

  • Notes the additional IRS funding devotes 57.32 percent to enforcement and a disproportionately small amount, only 0.51 percent, to TIGTA;
  • Identifies ongoing concerns with the IRS, including unanswered phones, data breaches (including the ProPublica leak) and political targeting;
  • Asks TIGTA how it intends to use and prioritize the extra funding it received in the IRS; and
  • Asks TIGTA about its views of ongoing, unresolved high-risk areas that IRS should be focused on for privacy protection and taxpayer service.  

Read the full letter here.