(PresidentialHill.com)- The Internal Revenue Service claims that it is focusing on customer service, not audits, as it begins its 2023 tax filing season, according to Newsmax. The federal agency is reportedly armed with 5,000 new customer service representatives to cut waiting times as part of President Biden’s $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
After the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which targets healthcare, climate programs, and tax reform, the IRS is preparing to inherit the $80 billion by 2031 which will go toward 87,000 new agents and other enforcement-related funds, according to American Pigeon.
The funds will also be used toward technological improvements, according to Newsmax. The changes come as Republicans in Congress are demanding a scaling-back of the funding.
U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said that 5,000 new agents will be trained by February 22, which is around the time that call volumes from taxpayers reportedly increase.
“The resources provided by the IRA will continue to support a years-long transformation of the agency,” Adeyemo said, adding that since the passage of Biden’s IRA, they have been able to make progress.
But the funding is preparing to improve tax compliance, the outlet reports.
The agency has recently lowered the threshold for individual transactions made over third-party payment processors, such as Venmo and Cash App. The threshold was once at least 200 transactions totaling $20,000, according to American Pigeon. Under Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, that number has been reduced to $600 to ensure that Americans are paying their “fair share.”
The plan is also reportedly a way to pay for the $3.5 trillion spending bill passed in 2021.
Republicans are arguing that the 87,000 new agents the IRS is preparing to hire will harass middle-class taxpayers and small businesses. Congressional Republicans are also questioning why the agency is stockpiling ammunition.
