It’s tax season, and we all know what that means: the IRS is about as popular as a root canal. But this year, the IRS has given us something extra to chuckle about. That’s right, folks, the IRS missed its own filing deadline.
Now, before you open the champagne and call it a party, let’s take a closer look at what happened. In August of 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided the IRS with nearly $80 billion over the next decade to supplement its annual appropriations. As part of the deal, the IRS was supposed to provide an operational plan to the Treasury Department within six months detailing how they would spend the money. But, as you might have guessed, the IRS missed the deadline.
Before we start sharpening our pitchforks and lighting our torches, let’s consider why this might have happened. For starters, the IRS has much work to do. It takes work to document how you will spend $80 billion. And let’s not forget that the former IRS Commissioner, Charles Rettig, left when his term expired in November, so there was a bit of a leadership vacuum to deal with. Then there’s the fact that the Biden Administration took its sweet time nominating Rettig’s replacement, Daniel Werfel. And, of course, there’s the little matter of a global pandemic, which has made everything a tad more complicated.
So, while it might be tempting to point out and laugh at the IRS for missing its own deadline, we should also cut them a little slack. They’ve got much work to do, and they’re doing their best amid some pretty challenging circumstances. We all have some type of challenge. Just wishing ours was as simple as telling someone how we would spend $80 Billion!