The IRS, led by Commissioner Danny Werfel, plans to increase its workforce to over 100,000 employees in the coming years.
“We’re at 90,000 now. I think to get into a right-size position over the next two to three years, we need to be above 100,000, but not that much above 100,000,” Mr. Werfel told reporters on Monday.
The IRS initially obtained $80 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, which was subsequently trimmed down to about $60 billion. After receiving the funding, the IRS released a strategic operating plan outlining its utilization of the allocated funds.
According to Mr. Werfel, the agency will release an updated strategic operating plan next month, which will include specifics about its hiring plans.
In 2013, the IRS boasted nearly 87,000 full-time equivalent positions. However, due to consecutive years of budget cuts, the workforce dwindled to just over 73,500 by 2019. Starting in 2020, there was a turnaround as the numbers began to rise again, with the workforce reaching 79,070 by 2022.
In the past year, the tax agency forecasted a workforce of over 105,000 employees by 2025. A substantial portion of these new hires will bolster the agency’s enforcement division,