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IMPLEMENTING THE CHANGES FOR THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT (IRA):

IMPLEMENTING THE CHANGES FOR THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT (IRA):

Recently TIGTA initiated a review of the changes needed to implement the IRA and their report noted the following:

What TIGTA Found

After enactment, the IRS immediately began the difficult and large-scale task of implementing IRA legislation. For example, the IRS created the IRA Transformation and Implementation Program Office (Program Office), which is responsible for strategically coordinating agencywide activities to develop the Operational Plan. The Program Office is also responsible for engaging with IRS personnel and Department of the Treasury stakeholders, monitoring the implementation of IRA tax provisions, and coordinating the organizational transformation efforts the IRS plans to undertake over the next decade. Finally, the Program Office is also working closely with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer regarding the tracking and accountability over IRA appropriation funding.

The IRS estimates the tax law provisions impacting the 2023 Filing Season will require creating or revising 24 tax forms, 29 tax form instructions, and three publications before the start of the filing season. In addition, the IRS will have to modify 20 information technology systems to accommodate the new and revised tax forms.

In addition to the above, the Secretary of the Treasury outlined expectations for the IRS for the upcoming 2023 Filing Season in an effort to ensure that taxpayers will see real changes. The filing season improvements include:

  • Staffing each of the IRS’s 361 Taxpayer Assistance Centers.
  • Improving the level of telephone service from approximately 15 percent to 85 percent and reducing average wait time from nearly 30 minutes to 15 minutes.
  • Automating the scanning of millions of individual paper tax returns.
  • Providing taxpayers the ability to receive and respond to notices online.

Actions are being taken in an effort to meet these expectations.

The Secretary of the Treasury requires the IRS to develop an Operational Plan

In response to the passage of the IRA, the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) requires the IRS to produce an Operational Plan by February 17, 2023, detailing how IRA funding will be used over the course of the next decade. The Secretary wants the IRS to work closely with the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury to identify specific operational initiatives and associated timelines that will improve taxpayer service, modernize technology, and increase equity in tax administration by pursuing tax evasion by those who do not pay their taxes owed.

In addition, the Plan is to include details on how resources will be spent over the next 10 years on technology, service improvement, and IRS personnel. This Plan is the key to ensuring that the public and Congress are able to hold the IRS accountable as it pursues needed improvements. To that end, the Plan must include metrics for areas of focus and time frames over the course of the coming years that the agency will strive to achieve.