During a June 14, 2022, hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo testified as to why the funds were needed.
“The IRS is horrendously under-resourced. It has fewer staff than it did 40 years ago. It is operating with technology from the 1960s using a programming language that is archaic and no longer taught in any school in the country,” Adeyemo told the committee in his opening statement. “The tax system dates back to when there was no internet, no cell phones, and no spreadsheets or automatic payments.”
The White House is requesting a 12% budget increase in fiscal year 2023 compared to 2022 enacted levels “to begin to remedy this mismatch between the IRS’ responsibilities and its resources.”