Fedweek

The bill would allow the IRS to broadly use the shortcut direct hire authority for filling positions. Image: DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock.com

President Biden has signed sweeping legislation reflecting Democratic policies on tax, health insurance and climate matters that was recently passed by Congress – the Inflation Reduction Act (HR-5376) – would increase the IRS’s funding by more than half over what previously had been projected for enforcement (to $118 billion) and for operations support (to $73 billion), a study has said.

The Congressional Research Service said that funding for IT modernization meanwhile would more than double to $7.8 billion and funding directed toward taxpayer service would rise by 9 percent to $37 billion. Those increases are intended to “supplement, not replace, the IRS’s normal annual appropriations,” it said.

While increased funding for enforcement and taxpayer service would translate in part to increased employment—at an agency that has lost staff over the last decade even as its workload increased—the CRS report did not project a specific number of jobs that could be created under the bill.

By doing so, the report avoided a controversy that arose regarding the IRS funding provision, which some conservatives have framed as aiming to double the agency’s staff and subject average taxpayers to additional scrutiny, amid concerns of tax compliance or auditing burdens. “Biden’s army of enforcers is coming for you,” has been a refrain from the National Republican Committee, for example.

Bill sponsors and the White House have said, though, that most of the hiring anticipated would go toward filling shortfalls caused by years of tight budgets for the IRS and keeping up with future turnover, with only a small portion devoted to enforcement. Even that portion, they say, will be focused on high-income taxpayers and corporations.

Said Tony Reardon, president of the NTEU which represents most IRS employees below the management level, “The fact is that the IRS needs to hire across the board. That includes employees to process tax returns, experts in technology, human resource professionals and others who support the mission of the agency. Additionally, the agency expects to lose 52,000 employees in the next six years to attrition and retirements and this funding will help replace departing workers. I urge all Americans to remember that IRS employees are public servants who take an oath to the constitution, and they perform their duties with professionalism and integrity.”

The bill would allow the IRS to broadly use the shortcut direct hire authority for filling positions in enforcement, operations support, taxpayer services, and business system modernization. Also to aid in hiring, the IRS would receive authority to pay higher “critical position pay” for up to 200 positions and could waive normal pay caps for up to another 300 positions.

Where Employees Would Get Pay Boosts under Salary Council Plan

Decisions on Key Workplace Issues Left to September – and Likely Later

Biden Letter Likely Next Step Toward 4.6 Percent Fed Pay Raise

Bill before Senate Would Alter Retirement Savings, Distribution Policies

Lower-Performing Postal Facilities Share Common Personnel Issues, IG Says

Pay Gap Figure Put at 22.47 Percent; More Feds Could Join Higher-Paying Zones

Congress Approves New VA Personnel Authorities in PACT Act; Survey Reveals Impact of Vacancies

COLA Count Retreats a Bit off 9 Percent High

See also,

What Are Desk Audits? Understanding Position Classification Appeals

Key Senate Bill Backs 4.6 Percent Raise, Would Ban Future Schedule F

Newly Offered Bills Show Sharply Differing Visions for Federal Workforce

Your FERS Annuity is Worth More Than You Think

Standard Form 50: Keep Each One in a Safe Place

Retiring from a Federal Job – Getting Started

2022 Federal Employees Handbook