Sec. Yellen: We Will Have an IRS Making Sure that Everyone Pays Their Fair Share

Yellen: “Today I want to spend some time discussing how the new IRS funding in the Inflation Reduction Act will make these types of investments possible, as well as its impact on the American economy. But first, I want to begin by speaking about the IRS itself. As our nation’s revenue collection agency, the IRS is a foundation of our government and our society. The IRS collects 96 percent of the revenue that funds the federal government that supports our priorities from national security, to infrastructure, to Social Security. It’s also one of the very few parts of the federal government that touches nearly every American household. IRS employees are known for their extraordinary dedication to public service. They have always served with distinction. But over the past couple of years, the employees of the IRS have been called to [indecipherable] further to serve the American people.

In addition to an IRS that can finally serve the American people we will also have an IRS that makes sure that everyone pays their fair share. The world has become more complex and enforcing tax laws it’s just not as simple as it was a few decades ago.

While the country sheltered in place many of you made sure that the business of government continued. You worked long hours to deliver relief to American households. This includes three rounds of economic impact payments and the monthly child tax credit. The work that you did ensured that families got through once in a century event. And in the case of the expanded child tax credit your work is set to have cut poverty in half. You manage to deliver on these historic new programs, while simultaneously fulfilling your tax administration responsibilities. But during the pandemic, even filing season [indecipherable] routine. For instance, on one day last year, March 15, the IRS received 8.6 million phone calls. This is over 20 percent of the phone calls that the IRS received in the entire year of 2019. Many of you are now working very hard to return the pandemic backlog of unprocessed [indecipherable] normal healthy levels by the end of the year.”