IRS says its number of audits is about to surge. Here's who the agency is targeting.
CBSN
The IRS says it is about to ramp up audits as it cracks down on tax cheats and seeks to deliver more revenue into the U.S. Treasury's coffers. But not every group of taxpayers will face more scrutiny, according to IRS commissioner Danny Werfel.
The IRS has been bolstered by $80 billion in new funding directed by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was signed into law in 2022 by President Joe Biden. The idea behind the new funding was to help revive an agency whose ranks have been depleted over the years, leading to customer service snarls, processing delays and a falloff in audit rates.
On Thursday, the IRS outlined its plans for the funding, as well as its efforts so far to burnish the agency's customer service operations after some taxpayers encountered months-long delays during the pandemic. The IRA money has helped the IRS answer more taxpayer calls during the tax season that just ended on April 15, as well as beef up its enforcement, which led to the collection of $520 million from wealthy taxpayers who hadn't filed their taxes or still owed money, it said.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.