The bipartisan debt-ceiling deal that redirected over a quarter of the funding previously approved to rebuild the Internal Revenue Service to other areas of the federal budget will not hinder the agency’s near-term service and enforcement objectives, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a prepared speech Thursday.
Last month, President Joe Biden agreed to redirect $21B away from the IRS over a decade as part of an agreement to limit spending and suspend the U.S. debt ceiling. That leaves some $59B in IRS funding compared with an $80B spending plan approved by lawmakers last year.
“I want to assure you that the IRS has the resources it needs in the near term – to modernize customer service and improve enforcement among high earners and large corporations that are not paying the taxes they owe,” Yellen said.
“We plan to continue to advocate for additional resources to make service improvements and help ensure that high-end taxpayers pay their fair share,” she added.
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