The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington on Jan. 24, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that, thanks to a new funding boost, it’s launching a “sweeping, historic” tax enforcement initiative using artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to catch tax evaders more effectively.
“There is a sea change taking place at the IRS in every aspect of our operations,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a Sept. 8 statement, which notes that the tax agency has completed a top-to-bottom review of its enforcement efforts and is girding to catch people “abusing the nation’s tax laws,” thanks in part to cutting-edge tech.
“The changes will be driven with the help of improved technology as well as Artificial Intelligence that will help IRS compliance teams better detect tax cheating, identify emerging compliance threats and improve case selection tools to avoid burdening taxpayers with needless ‘no-change’ audits,” Mr. Werfel said.
The new enforcement thrust is said to focus on higher-earning Americans and big corporations, with the IRS pledging not to increase audit rates for people earning less than $400,000 per year.
This has been an oft-repeated promise in the face of Republican assertions that working-class