IRS ‘Under Siege,’ Yellen Says, Needs $80 Billion to Beef up Tax Work

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen testifies during a hearing before Senate Finance Committee at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 7, 2022. Alex Wong/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday urged Congress to approve $80 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service to help the agency reduce a huge backlog of tax returns and allow it to go after $600 billion in unpaid tax bills.

“The IRS is under siege. It is suffering from huge underinvestment,” Yellen told a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Treasury’s budget request for fiscal 2023.