Senate Finance Committee Republicans have forwarded correspondence to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig, seeking details regarding the agency’s use of its $80 billion funding allocation.
Senate Financing Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) joined 13 colleagues in signing the letter, requesting information on the IRS’s plan to prioritize taxpayer services; guard against partisan targeting; protect taxpayer privacy; modernize technology; and track and publish timely and reliable reports to establish comprehensive transparency and accountability, allowing for meaningful independent oversight.
The $80 billion allotment was granted under the Inflation Reduction Act.
“On August 17, 2022, Treasury Secretary Yellen asked you to work with Treasury’s Deputy Secretary to develop a detailed plan for spending nearly $80 billion in newly enacted mandatory IRS funding,” the legislators wrote in the letter to Rettig. “The deadline for the plan is Feb. 17, 2023. American taxpayers have a right to know exactly how the IRS will spend their money and a right to fair tax administration. As Members of the authorizing Committee charged with oversight responsibilities over both the IRS and Treasury, we are compelled to ask: how will the IRS fix its numerous existing problems while satisfying the critical need for transparency and accountability? Rather than vague plans by Treasury and the IRS on how it may spend $80 billion delivered to it in partisan legislation, we request detailed answers.”
The lawmakers requested responses to questions and information requests by Oct. 28, 2022.