With the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) facing a backlog of more than 16 million outstanding tax returns at the start of the 2022 tax filing season, Republican Leader on the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued the following statement:

“Although the IRS is facing a historically long backlog of tax filings, President Biden and congressional Democrats have failed to allocate even a dime to help taxpayers this tax filing season.

 

“Instead, Democrats have prioritized a dangerous bank surveillance scheme and plan to supercharge the agency, which could more than double Americans’ chances of audit.

 

“The painful backlog and customer service failures at the agency have become yet another crisis for hardworking American taxpayers.”

 

Background:

• The Biden Administration has failed to help American taxpayers this tax filing season by not addressing the IRS’s backlog, and instead, by adding more to the agency’s plate and prioritizing a weaponized IRS.
• Top Republicans at the Ways and Means Committee and Appropriations Committee sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig requesting a plan on how the IRS would address the more than 16 million outstanding tax returns.
• In December, 99 House Republicans, including House Republican Leadership and all Ways and Means Republicans, urged Commissioner Rettig to provide information on how the agency plans to resolve its process and prepare for the upcoming 2022 tax filing season.