Senators Press Yellen to Boost IRS Funding

According to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, the agency's FY 2021 budget was $2.7 billion less than its FY 2010 budget in real terms, a 22% reduction, they said.

As a result, IRS staffing, has also fallen 22% since FY 2010, while the number of tax filers has increased by 14%, the senators explained. During the 2021 tax filing season, IRS assisters answered only one out of every nine calls.

"We are glad to be working with the Biden Administration on its proposal to invest nearly $80 billion in the IRS over the next 10 years as part of the Build Back Better Act. As you have emphasized, this funding will allow the IRS to pursue better enforcement with respect to wealthy taxpayers and large corporations, raising at least $2.3 trillion over the next two decades, according to Treasury estimates," they added.

A boost in funding will also allow the IRS "to make transformative investments in taxpayer services, including hiring staff to answer taxpayer calls and process returns and refunds, as well as modernizing IT systems to help taxpayers file their taxes and claim tax credits and refunds," the senators wrote.

Other senators joining the letter are: Edward Markey, D-Mass.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Angus King, I-Maine; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Tom Carper, D-Del.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; and Cory Booker, D-N.J.