Long-Neglected IRS Enjoying Cash Infusion Under Biden

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel may not expect taxpayers to actually enjoy dealing with the nation’s tax collection agency, but he thinks that it’s at least becoming much easier and simpler for them.

Taxpayers are getting more options to file; they’re getting real-time information about their refunds and receiving them sooner; and they’re spending less time on hold with the IRS when they have questions, he told reporters Friday in a press call.

The reason? The Inflation Reduction Act’s big cash infusion for the agency.

Originally, almost $80 billion had been set aside by the law for the IRS to spend over the coming years on enforcement, agency operations, customer service and upgrading its computer systems. Of that, about $20 billion was clawed back by congressional Republicans before it could be spent. Still, the IRA was a historic boon to what has historically been a cash-strapped agency.

“The Inflation Reduction Act is focused on outcomes that benefit all taxpayers, but that the results are now proving that out,” Werfel said.

“So it was our intention to spend Inflation Reduction Act [money] these ways, and now taxpayers are seeing it and feeling it. Each and every time they come to the IRS, we should be able to present an increasingly better environment for them to more seamlessly and easily go through the process of meeting their tax obligations.”

The stats for the 2024 filing season, which concludes Monday for most taxpayers, appear to bear out Werfel’s optimistic take on the agency’s direction.

According to the Treasury Department:

• 88% of callers to the IRS were answered, a rate above the 85% target and well above the pre-IRA 15% level seen in 2022;
• The average wait time for a call was only three minutes, below