The I.R.S. is “Severely Underfunded”

The Department of the Treasury reminded Congress yesterday that the IRS is severely underfunded to the point of providing inadequate service to the American taxpayers.  “Today’s deadline is an inflection point in what has been the agency’s most challenging filing season in recent history,” Natasha Sarin, counselor for tax policy implementation at the Treasury Department, said in a statement. “This is the byproduct of chronic underfunding that has starved the IRS of the tools it needs to serve the American people, coupled with a historic pandemic that introduced new responsibilities alongside mammoth challenges.”

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig also stressed the need for increased funding, in a separate post.  The IRS’ “already scant resources are stretched thin—and consistent underfunding has significantly hindered the service we’re able to provide,” Rettig wrote. “Over the course of the last decade, the IRS’ budget fell more than 15 percent in real terms. Because of this decrease, in 2021 we realized less than 79,000 full-time positions, which is close to 1974 levels. Since 2010, IRS enforcement personnel fell by 30 percent, while the nation’s real Gross Domestic Product increased by 29 percent, and the filing population has increased by 14 percent. Over the next six years, we estimate we will need to hire 52,000 employees just to maintain our current levels.”