Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) made a surprise announcement late Wednesday that they had reached a deal on a scaled-down economic package that includes tax and energy provisions. The bill includes:
- IRS Enforcement: The IRS would receive $80 billion in funding to add auditors, improve customer service, and advance their technology. It is estimated that these investments will raise $124 billion in additional revenue over the next ten years.
What is in the $80 billion for the IRS?
The legislation would grant the IRS $45.6 billion for enforcement, $25.3 billion for operations support, $3.2 billion for taxpayer services, and $4.8 billion for business systems modernization. The IRS would have until September 30, 2031, to spend the $80 billion. The money is aimed at strengthening the IRS’s efforts to enforce tax laws on wealthy individuals and businesses as well as improve their customer service, as well as catching up on the backlog they experienced the past few years. Furthermore, the legislation would provide the IRS with hiring flexibility, allowing them to use an expedited hiring process, and raising employee salaries. The IRS would potentially be able to hire around 87,000 new employees which would double their workforce.