Excited IRS Unleashes AI-Powered Crackdown on Tax Violators
Flush with Money and New Staff, IRS Launches Historic Effort to Restore Fairness in Tax Compliance
In an exciting announcement on the IRS website, the agency declares its commitment to restoring fairness in tax compliance through a sweeping and historic effort. The IRS plans to shift its focus onto high-income earners, partnerships, large corporations, and promoters who abuse the nation’s tax laws.
Thanks to an $80 billion infusion from the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has been able to strengthen its workforce. Reports suggest that this funding could potentially lead to the hiring of 87,000 new employees, a number that continues to be discussed when talking about the agency’s expansion plans, according to Forbes.
According to Reuters, the IRS plans to hire approximately 20,000 new workers. As a result, the agency now boasts nearly 90,000 full-time employees, a significant increase from the 79,070 full-time workers it had last year. This marks the first time since 2012 that the IRS has had over 90,000 employees.
Although the $80 billion funding was reduced by about $20 billion during debt ceiling negotiations, it remains a point of contention during the ongoing debates in Congress over the fiscal 2024 federal budget. Some conservative Republicans have denounced the agreement, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
As part of its plans for tougher enforcement, the IRS intends to utilize improved technology and artificial intelligence to enhance its ability to detect tax cheating, identify emerging compliance threats, and improve case selection tools. These advancements aim to prevent unnecessary “no-change” audits that burden taxpayers.
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As part of its plan to collect more cash, the IRS has introduced the “High Wealth, High Balance Due Taxpayer Field Initiative.” This initiative specifically targets taxpayers with income above $1 million who owe more than $250,000 in taxes. The IRS aims to contact approximately 1,600 taxpayers falling into this category who collectively owe hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.
Utilizing artificial intelligence, the IRS will focus on auditing the largest partnerships, which have been identified as complex cases for the agency’s teams to handle. IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel acknowledges that the agency has been overwhelmed in this area for years due to limited resources and staffing.
The partnership probe will initially concentrate on 75 of the nation’s largest partnerships, all of which have assets exceeding $10 billion. Audit notices will be sent to these partnerships in the coming weeks. Additionally, compliance alerts will be sent to around 500 other large partnerships next month, as the IRS has identified discrepancies that could potentially lead to audits.
Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, expresses skepticism about the IRS’s use of artificial intelligence, suggesting that it may be a way for the agency to distance itself from subjective decision-making. Norquist believes that the IRS can claim objectivity by stating that their actions are based on scientific methods.
The IRS assures that audit rates will not increase for individuals earning less than $400,000 per year.
The post Giddy IRS Launches AI-Enabled ‘Sweeping, Historic’ Tax Violator Crackdown appeared first on The Western Journal.
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