Congress is taking steps as part of its fiscal year 2024 government appropriations bills to lop off a quarter of the $80 billion of modernization funding for the IRS approved in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022.
The $1.2 trillion worth of spending bills released earlier in the week by the House and Senate Appropriations committees would cut $20.2 billion from the previously approved IRS modernization funding.
The House voted to approve the spending measures on Friday afternoon, and the Senate was expected to follow suit. Both chambers of Congress were rushing to vote on the bills before funding for about 70 percent of Federal government operations was set to run out at midnight on Friday.
“$20.2 billion is pulled back from the Administration, partially defunding President Biden’s supercharged army of 85,000 IRS agents who are set on targeting everyday Americans,” stated Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee when the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Actwas released this week.
The IRS’ sweeping modernization plans cover a number of fronts, including pursuing a years-long campaign to modernize the technologies that the agencies relies on. The IRS recently released its Strategic Operating Plan that envisions hiring 20,000 new employees by the end of fiscal year 2024.
Last month, IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told members of the House Ways and Means Committee that such reducing the agency’s $80 billion of modernization funding would add to budget deficits and make it harder for the agency to upgrade its technology to improve customer service.
“While we have made important progress so far, many more changes are on the horizon,” Werfel said. “Some changes will be seen in the current filing season … and others in the months and years ahead,” said Werfel. “For these improvements to continue and accelerate, however, a consistent, reliable funding stream remains critical for the agency – both in regard to our annual appropriations and maintaining the IRA funding.”
