{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=AFA2CFC5-C73A-4DE4-89C8-C350FCC54EBF", "Thune: We Must Hold the IRS Accountable and Protect Taxpayer Dollars", "2022-11-30", "2022", "2022-11", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Taxation and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Oversight, today discussed how the Democrats\u2019 attempt to supersize the IRS without holding the agency accountable to American taxpayers is dangerous and irresponsible. Thune also spoke about a series of bills he has introduced that would protect taxpayers and improve the IRS through increased transparency, oversight, and accountability.\n\nThune previously introduced a bill that would protect taxpayers who are earning less than $400,000 from increased audits, as well as a separate bill, the Increase Reliable Services Now Act, that would prevent the IRS from hiring new enforcement employees until customer service has reached a more acceptable standard. Most recently, Thune introduced the IRS Funding Accountability Act, legislation that would give Congress a direct say in how the unprecedented $80 billion in new funding for the IRS could be spent.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, ask any group of Americans how they feel about the IRS, and you\u2019re unlikely to come up with a lot of positive reviews.\n\n\u201cAnd with good reason.\n\n\u201cRepeated mishandling of taxpayer data \u2013 not to mention almost nonexistent customer service \u2013 is unlikely to gain any agency many fans.\n\n\u201cAnd at this point, the IRS has a disturbing record of mishandling taxpayer information.\n\n\u201cIn the past two years alone, the IRS has inadvertently posted confidential information from 120,000 taxpayers on its website, destroyed 30 million unprocessed tax documents, and had troves of private taxpayer information end up in the hands of the left-leaning news site ProPublica.\n\n\u201cAnd the agency\u2019s customer service record might be even worse.\n\n\u201cDuring fiscal year 2021, the agency answered just 11 percent of the 282 million calls it received.\n\n\u201c11 percent.\n\n\u201cThat means that 250 million taxpayer calls went unanswered.\n\n\u201c250 million.\n\n\u201cAnd 2022 was no better.\n\n\u201cDuring the 2022 filing season, 90 percent of taxpayers\u2019 calls \u2013 90 percent \u2013 went unanswered.\n\n\u201cAny business with a customer service record like that would soon be out of business.\n\n\u201cMr. President, given the agency\u2019s record, I think most Americans would say that the IRS is ripe for reform.\n\n\u201cDemocrats, however, apparently thought the IRS was ripe for more funding.\n\n\u201cA lot more funding.\n\n\u201cIn August Democrats passed their so-called Inflation Reduction Act.\n\n\u201cThis legislation takes no meaningful steps to reduce inflation, but it does flood the IRS with a staggering $80 billion over the next 10 years, a sum equal to six times the agency\u2019s 2022 budget.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s enough money to double the size of the IRS.\n\n\u201cThe bill provides for the hiring of as many as 87,000 new IRS employees \u2013 an estimate that came from President Biden\u2019s Treasury Department.\n\n\u201cThat would make the IRS larger than Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard combined.\n\n\u201cMr. President, suddenly and dramatically increasing the size of any government agency is cause for concern.\n\n\u201cAre there plans in place to make sure the money is used efficiently?\n\n\u201cCan the agency in question handle such a swift expansion \u2013 and the increased responsibility that comes with it?\n\n\u201cThese are serious questions no matter what agency we\u2019re talking about.\n\n\u201cBut these questions are particularly relevant when the agency in question is already doing a poor job of handling its basic responsibilities.\n\n\u201cAnd yet despite the IRS\u2019 record \u2013 despite the repeated breaches of taxpayer confidentiality and the nearly nonexistent customer service \u2013 Democrats passed legislation to double the size of the agency without including any meaningful accountability measures to ensure that the new funding is used responsibly.\n\n\u201cI guess it\u2019s not terribly surprising given that Democrats made it clear that their main interest in supersizing the IRS was increasing government revenue.\n\n\u201cBut it is deeply troubling.\n\n\u201cWe should not be doubling the size of an agency that is already notable for its failure to adequately carry out its mission.\n\n\u201cBut since Democrats are flooding the IRS with a lot of additional money, Americans deserve to know that that money is being spent wisely and efficiently \u2013 and that it isn\u2019t going to make taxpayers\u2019 experiences with the IRS even worse.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I \u2013 and my fellow Republicans \u2013 have been focused on doing everything we can to provide rigorous oversight and accountability for this new money.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ve introduced multiple bills to help protect taxpayers.\n\n\u201cMy Increase Reliable Services Now Act, which I introduced with Senator Collins, would prevent the IRS from hiring new enforcement agents until customer service at the IRS has reached a more acceptable standard.\n\n\u201cI also worked with Senator Mike Crapo on a bill to protect taxpayers earning less than $400,000 per year from increased audits.\n\n\u201cDemocrats\u2019 main reason for boosting IRS funding was to increase tax collection measures, including audits, to squeeze out revenue for their Green New Deal agenda.\n\n\u201cAnd there is substantial reason to be concerned that despite Democrats\u2019 protests to the contrary, some of that audit funding will be used to increase audits of middle-income taxpayers.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to explain why else every Democrat opposed an amendment to prevent the IRS from using its new funding to increase audits of these Americans.\n\n\u201cThe bill I introduced with Senator Crapo and my Republican colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee would protect middle-income Americans from seeing increased audits as a result of this new money.\n\n\u201cMost recently \u2013 just a few days before Thanksgiving \u2013 Senator Chuck Grassley and I led our fellow Finance Committee Republicans in introducing the IRS Funding Accountability Act.\n\n\u201cOur legislation would require the IRS to provide Congress with an annual plan for how the agency intends to use its new funding \u2013 a plan that could be rejected by Congress with a joint resolution of disapproval.\n\n\u201cAnd the IRS would be required to provide Congress with quarterly updates on implementation of its spending plans.\n\n\u201cThis would enable consistent and transparent oversight, provide accountability for any misuse of funds, and guard against violations of taxpayer rights.\n\n\u201cAnd there would be real consequences for failing to submit plans or reports on time \u2013 including the rescission of funds until the IRS complies with reporting requirements.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the mission statement of the IRS is to \u2018provide America\u2019s taxpayers top-quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all.\u2019\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, in recent years the IRS has fallen far short of this standard.\n\n\u201cAnd flooding the agency with $80 billion over and above its current budget \u2013 the majority of it for increased enforcement, with no accountability or oversight measures \u2013 is unlikely to do much to ensure taxpayers receive \u2018top-quality service.\u2019\n\n\u201cI hope at least some of my Democrat colleagues will decide to join Republicans to enact measures that will provide real accountability at the IRS, which is needed now more than ever.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:38:01Z"]], "columns": 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