House GOP committee says its probing limited a policy that allowed IRS surprise visits to taxpayers

House Republicans are taking credit for the IRS rolling back a policy that allowed tax agents to make surprise visits to private U.S. citizens.

"The Committee’s and Select Subcommittee’s oversight revealed, and led to the swift end of, the IRS’s weaponization of unannounced field visits to harass, intimidate, and target taxpayers," a report released Friday reads. 

"Taxpayers can now rest assured the IRS will not come knocking without providing prior notice — something that should have been the IRS’s practice all along," the report continues. 

The report went on to cite examples of IRS weaponization against private citizens, according to Fox News.

One example cited was independent journalist Matt Taibbi, who was given access to files that showed communications between government officials and X, formerly Twitter, employees that showed alleged censorship and suppression of certain stories such as the Hunter Biden laptop. 

Taibbi testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on March 9, during which he addressed evidence that the federal government actively pressured Big Tech companies to censor user content.

Taibbi said that following his testimony, the IRS used intimidation tactics by sending an agent to his home, who left a note claiming the agency rejected his tax filings from years prior due to identity theft concerns.

"The IRS's dossier on Mr. Taibbi included information such as Mr. Taibbi's voter registration records, whether he possessed a hunting or fishing license, and whether he had a concealed weapons permit. The revenue officer also examined and saved Mr. Taibbi's Wikipedia page, which contained extensive details about Mr. Taibbi's work on the Twitter Files," the report states.