IRS asks for more money, looks to hire 14,000 more employees

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said this week that the agency will need more funding to hire 14,000 more employees, improve its customer service, update technology, and perform more audits.

He specifically wants Congress to restore $20 billion of funds he said the legislature clawed back from a larger allocation, the Washington Times reported. The IRS received $80 billion in funds through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

The IRS has increased from about 79,000 full-time equivalent positions in 2022 to a total of 90,000 this year, with plans to add 14,000 by 2029 to have a force of 102,500.

“We believe that figure represents a ‘right-sized’ IRS, reflecting the needs to serve taxpayers and responsibly enforce the law given the complexity of the nation’s tax laws,” he said. “That number won’t even be a record high for the IRS workforce. It’s still well below the numbers from the late 1980s and early 1990s.”

Funding for technology upgrades is expected to run out by 2026, Werfel asserted, claiming that would result in customer service dropping from an 88% level of service to 30%, rendering the agency unable to provide assistance to most taxpayers.

“The IRS will continue focusing on making improvements and efficient use of funding,” Werfel said. “But to stress the importance of continuing this momentum, the IRS will continue working to make a difference for the nation’s taxpayers. At the same time, it’s critical that the IRS has stable, secure funding to allow technology modernization and taxpayer service improvements to continue into the future.”