irs internal revenue service building gty thg

On Thursday, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service announced plans to invest $80 billion over the next two years to enhance tax enforcement and customer service. As part of this plan, the agency intends to hire almost 30,000 new employees and deploy advanced technology. The new funding will allocate $8.64 billion for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years, with a significant portion being used to hire 8,782 enforcement staff. In addition, the agency will employ more data scientists to utilize new data analytics technology to identify audit targets alongside traditional tax attorneys and revenue agents.

The IRS will also continue to ramp up its customer service hiring. However, a large proportion of these new hires will be replacements for the nearly 12,000 IRS employees expected to retire over the next two years, including over 4,700 enforcement staff. The primary aim of the funding is to help rebuild the agency’s audit capabilities and outdated computer technology while closing the tax gap, which is currently estimated to be $600 billion annually. The new investment is expected to generate approximately $204 billion in new revenue over the next decade, with higher collections predicted beyond the 10-year budget window.

The IRS Commissioner, Danny Werfel, confirmed that the agency would provide updates on its hiring and spending plans, with future staffing needs being dictated by the agency’s ability to deploy new technology to automate functions.