education, love for the, research and system are pivotal in the fight against opioid addiction. working closely with of the policymakers and administrators i advocate for strengthening the addiction workforce, remove stigma still structural barriers that prevent acquittal acts as an coverage to high-quality comprehensive addiction care. along with all of the money and all the resources that we put into this fight against addiction it is crucial the stigma surrounding it must be eliminated for us to make any meaningful progress. otherwise, we stand to lose a generation. >> to watch this and all winning entries visit our website at studentcam.org. >> see spanish unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including wow. .. >> washington journal continu.

host: as we all know, it is tax season end here to talk with us about the irs funding and staffing is eric katz, senior correspondent with the government executive and your story on the irs's plan to hire nearly 30,000 employees over the next two years. your reporting at go why is the irs want to hire this many employees? >> irs says it's been chronically understaffed, underfunded for 15 years and they are trying to correct for

that and congress provided 80 billing for the next ten years to boost its roles and the resources it needs desperately. there are trying to focus on enforcement for high earning individuals and corporations and make taxpayer services better so if you call irs with the question, you can answer the call quickly and help you get your taxes filed correctly and on time. that's sort of the g goal and ty have been unable toey do that. >> 80 billion, the tax enforcement efforts 7.5illion taxpayer services, $12 billion boost in technology

improvements, $4 billion in energy security and the hiring part is $8 billion but on the technology improvement, it's a pretty big number, 12 billion, what does the irs say is needed on their and in terms of technology improvement? >> a lot of the systems are old and scattered so they are functioning off one system in particular, theyun are, they hae a lot of different mechanisms they used to accomplish their goals and consolidate and modernize that. they want to make the user experience better so when you gy on, there's a portal you can put in all your information and get your textat files will how your return is coming and you can see that process. people complain now, they submit filings for the year and sit

back and wait and they don't know when they will hear back from irs so making it user-friendly, all of these things that will make their operations function more smoothly both on the backend for the irs and front end for these experience. >> how big of an organization is the irs? >> right now it's around 80000 employees and the number has declined 2010 and is roughly gone down about 15000 overall in the personal has been 30,000 or so so much lower levels than at their peak. >> you report the irs plans to bring on about 10000 new employees in the current fiscal year.

most focus on taxpayer services in the next is the year 2020 for the agency will double that to nearly 20000 with $1.4 billion in the plurality of path toward enforcement treasury department several years ago after the deadline drawing many on capitol hill, where is the opposition and wife to thiss plan? >> multi parts to that. they were opposed to the 80 billing and all because the opponents of that spending republicans mostlypu say it will lead to unfair targeting of unfair everyday americans. obviously part of the republican party is more tax enforcement, it can be problematic. they are worried about adding

staff and what itle will mean fr small businesses who might receive more audits the biden administration will only increase, audit rates for high earners will be impacts for middle income individuals so there is concerned that and there is pushback and delay of getting this on exactly where the spending will go. even after they put the plan out there is pushback in terms of lack of specificity and long-term goals and things like hiring. nextxtfi year what will that lok like three or four or five or six years down the road and we don't have those? >> it sounded like taxpayer services they want a frontline engagement with taxpayers to be our first priority. >> that's right.

the administration is hoping the original hiring spree will go toward helping like i was talking about, the user experience answering the phone calls, dealing with people's questions as they comeh up. then later on they will get to the hiring enforcement, people do the investigation into taxes and auditing those. >> talking about planned hiring of additional irs officials and spending proved in the inflation reductionat act and senior correspondent with government executive, we welcome calls and caught comments. (202)748-8001.

that's the republican line. democrats (202)748-8000 and for independent and all others, (202)748-8002. we'll get to your calls momentarily. comments from the irs commissioner, danny his swearing-in ceremony last week he talked about irs plans for the money approved. here he is. >> what will the plan mean for taxpayers? short and long-term, there are a few things the irs will accomplish. an end to long wait times on the phone regardless of the time of year. probably the irs will no longer frustrates taxpayers and tax professionals. more service locations and irs staff to provide in person health has been sorely missing for many years in so many parts of the nation. more digital tools to help people get the service and information they need. for example, it will me a detailed version of refund tracking so people have a clear

view of when and where their refunds are in the process and pipelines. digital scanning to speed processing of returns we receive, it will reduce errors and refunds for paper filers. expanded online account for the clearview of tax information and easier ways to address issues with their tax return. for sample taxpayers will be able to respond to issues instantly by electronic means avoidingng mailings and paper processing. for many letters from thehe irsn the mail could be a thing of the past.ma abby's up in the new irs will make a complex tax system easier for people and will be easier to file and understand tax liobligation and will make it easier for people to claim the vital credits they are entitled to, something millions can overlook each year.

for example, fizzing out on the earned income tax credit and other vital credit so not only will it be bigger and faster refunds for many of the changes will help people get it right the first time avoiding follow-up contacts from the irs and reducing the need for potential audit. >> one of the common most reviewed words in the response was easier for taxpayers. >> irs to be a world-class customer service, not something known for now among $7.5 billion customer service part of the plan such making things easier and truly and externally see you can track the information and

another thing they want to do you mentioned technology improvement is making it so when people file their returns with paper, people do that electronically but still every year people do that with paper and it's with huge backlogs because they have to take that typing and put it in that way they want to gamut in as it comes inn and they will eliminae their backlogs last year. >> still a lot of people using the phone, do you have any idea currently for the typical irs wait time is when you call in? >> last year 22 filings, irs was answering 10% of the calls and you have to keep trying 5000

customer service for the current year in the reduction act is now up to 80% in part is people calling but theyrt are enteringt a higher rate remark will go first to matt in dallas on the democrat line. >> good morning, thank you for taking my call. it, and a question. my comment is, i think it is al. good thing the administration through commissioner is hiring 30,000 new agents and it looks like spending 47 proposing to spend 47 and a half billion on enforcement because my experience has been people who want to cheat the most of the highest earners, the most money they can cheat from the

taxpayers. plus, makes sure people in the lower tax bracket. the help they need so they do file their taxes. of the enforcement money, and we have a sense if the irs commissioner tries to go over tax sheets mostly or are they looking to enforcement against what i call scammers? my dad gets calls framing the irs is going to arrest them if they don't pay the taxes for scammers trying to file tax returns still child tax or credit. >> appreciate that. one thing is noted, 47 billion, the money is already allocated, congress provides this over ten

years but knew act of congress to call back which republicans have tried to do. the money is appropriated to them and they can spend the 47 billion will be spent on enforcement. they are planning tot: go after tax sheets, that is sort of the name of the game. the threshold of talked about is anyone earning less than 400,000 a year will not see increased audit rates, anyone earning more than that is where they go after it and they talk about the tax gap meaning the difference between the taxes that are actually owed versus the taxes they actually collect they want to narrow the gap so they are collecting everything owed or something close to it. they estimate from as high as a

trillion dollars a year so they are trying to reduce that. in terms of scams, is something irs focuses on. irs doesn't call youou so if you get a call from someone saying need to pay money to the irs, ignore it. they are trying to actually make it so they don't even mail you anymore at least a lot less because they want everything to be digitized and easy through the online system you heard commissioner talk about. >> let's go to new jersey and hear from josephine on the independent line. >> good morning. i want to use myself as a personal experience. this year i processed with my accountant in february. i sent and i was due money back. shocked three weeks later i had the check. i have to feel the new guy has

to be the one responsible. my question is, my understanding man comes in with t previous background experience in the internal revenue, is that true or not? >> it is true, i'm not sure how much he helped with your return, he just got in last week but previously he served in acting capacity as head of irs for several months. before that in the white house and office of management and budget which he did for several presidents in bothe parties so e has management experience in government and he's the right one for the job.n a big time of transformation for the irs and he's leveraged his experience in government to make sure that happens properly. >> you said 5000 hired so far

for customer service, or those seasonal or full-time job? >> full-time customer service they hired, they are trying to get the number back to historical levels. >> peter from vermont independent line. go ahead. >> thank you. this is probably a tough question. there are employers out there that higher illegal and they do not collect state or federal taxes. h how much money that is not collected? >> i mentioned estimates of the tax in general which a few hundred billion a year, maybe up to a trillion a year and they

are trying to narrow that and make sure the irs makes sure taxes owed are collected for enforcement and ramp it up. >> you've touched on this, here's the headline from the washington post. irs overhaul aims for tenfold increase audit of the wealthy, what is behind that? >> this is the money we aremb talking about for enforcement and they are trying to hire thousands and thousands of employees who will help go after uthat and what they are focusig on is trying to get accounts and lawyers and other experts assigned who are not new to this profession, they are midcareer profession who come in with expertise and hit the ground running to do these audits which

are veryis complicated. audits have decreased disproportionately meaning they have dropped off precipitously as resources have declined from a they've neglected complicated high income individuals and comforted returns because it's a lot of work to go after them and it's another to try to bring the resources back. >> typically what would trigger an audit? >> they can look for anomalies in theo return, sometimes it cn be random but if there's something coming in and there would be a certain expectation and it doesn't meet the expectation that would be an audit or if there is a drastic change one year toe the next and doesn't look right, sometimes is

to be automated and they will: determine if an audit is necessary. >> let'swhwh go to chris in san antonio, texas. >> thanks for taking myy call. i guess we could do it all over again at 47 billion and hire a bunch of examiners that we already missed that. is there something in the law that says 400,000 if they will only audit people making over 400 people, is that the law or a number just talked about? >> that is a number treasury secretary janet yellen promised and she memorialized that in writing in sort of a direction given to the irs. as far as i know codified in the

statute but it's something they are promising and saying audit rates will not exceed historic levels for anyone making less than 400,000 it is interesting because we are well below historic levels and came back to 2010 when irs was much more resourced so you could see an uptick there just to get back to the levels it used to be although irs is promising the next couple of years they won't do anything to increase audit for anyone making less than 400,000 because they are focusing on those. ray and aurora, colorado on the independent line. >> good morning. how are you all? >> great, thank you. >> thank you for taking my call. i happen to be a registered libertarian and what i am about to asks is it not to be

misconstrued as if i am in favor of abolishing the irs but i happen to be a former irs employee and i thought i would ask. was wondering if you could explain more about the free alliance and one of my primary concerns is that i see this as a former corporate welfare but, also you're not filing the return, whether it's regardless of which tax company, our financial data, a third-party. >> there are certainly entities out there that help individuals and corporations file taxes. it's a pretty complicated process and not everyone wants to tackle that on their own. you mentioned e-filing, there is

a push to get more people and businesses take advantage of e-filing so it doesn't create thatle tapered backlog we talked about, they are not going to get rid of that though, that will always remain an option for the foreseeable future, there's no time to get rid of the option to paper file but i don't like it because it takes so much longer. >> the money for the increased spending for the agency and technology for the inflationon reduction, 80 billing dollars. house republicans right out of the chute strip the irs for funding and repealed the 80 billing dollars, where does it stand? is passed by the house, what's going to happen in the senate? >> it doesn't seemed like there is much appetite under the democratic control probably won't even come up for a vote.

it is sort of a key democratic initiative in the inflation reduction act included lots of new spending and it's one way they are trying to teach that because the irs willl bring in more money because it will collect moren. taxes and reduce deficit so they are not interested in walking that back but i think where the fight will be is the regular appropriations process, as part of the annual spending process republicans are saying we gave 80 billing dollars when we don't have any interest in increasing the budget on an annual basis so that could be an interesting fight this fall. >> senior correspondent with government executive, we welcome your calls anddu questions (202)748-8001.

the republicans hit 207 -- independent line 2027 or eight zero zero two. in philadelphia on the independent line. >> donald trump and the republicans seem to be saving the american public trillions but republicans cut out a lot of programs, trillions, republicans keep all of the nonsense keep them befuddled. and you should be on the air and the nih. when trump was around. i think youou should be on the r

like every day of the week and find out what the public has to know what is being cut out. >> appreciatat we are on the air every day we try to bring up issues like this with other guests as well. we will go to dan from georgetown, massachusetts independent line. >> hello, you for having me on. i've got a couple of things, just hearing the words government spending and reducing inflation, sorry, it doesn't add up baseline. this is typical big government fashion forr people we have been watching our government accountable for shady things, a lot of influence peddling and

getting the nose into things they shouldn't get into. this is america the land of freedom here passionately have this complex tax system, it's not even complex different things at different rates, it's very complex and of course instead of going after the problem which is how complex the system is, little loopholes that can be found by the best accountants and lawyers in thedg country and it's so big and cumbersome i went to do my kids tax returns and they're just trying to get 1040 ez, you can't even do that anymore. you gotta do it online and they send you a private tax thing to do the private taxes. our government is out of control and your hiring a bunch of people to layer on complex tax

structure most people have no idea how to do and then you go after people. it's backwards. this is america, we should be working on the complexes of our old system, it's a mess. how do you get the title government executive? like well. thank you. >> that's the name of the publication. >> it is certainly a complicated tax system and i think it is part of the objective here to address tax code, it is addressing the loopholes you mentioned in terms of helping the agency have resources to go after these entities that can

afford a team of lawyers and accountants exploit the loopholes and find ways around paying what they owe. the previous missionary talks about being outgunned, the private entities and businesses and individuals have become so good at avoiding paying what they owe and the irs was under resourced, they couldn't do anything about it at least that is the perspective from the irs so they are trying to do is even the playing field so they have the internal capacity to go after the individuals and pushback if they report laws and the way they shouldn't. >> the previous caller had mentioned use of government contractors parties and the processing, how prevalent is that? >> it is an interesting thing,

irs has gone back and forth outsourcing with a call long-term he outstanding that the people haven't paid what they owe for many years and they are aware that and they outsourced that and brought it back in, sort of this back and forth, a couple of times it deemed not worthwhile or unfairly targeting certain demographics for low income people and now they are in the too early to say in some ways it's been helpful but in some ways it's being operationalized but is something irs deals with a lot in terms of congress telling them whether or not they

have to outsource. >> do we have a number on the amount of uncollected back taxes in united states? >> it is sort of up for debate, there's no firm number, it could be as much as 1 trillion a year but at least a few hundred billion is what they see. it's trying to get that 20. >> linda from arkansas on the democrat line. >> thank you. when i have these employees, i think 10000 this year, where did they get their training at? how long does it take to train and answer the question? >> a good question, something irs has to work on.

... it's a huge undertaking to try to bring on the number of people and get them trained. the commissioner talked about once they get in their seats the return investment is almost immediate because how quickly they can start doing this work. but there is a lengthy training process. it depends on what they're hiring for, depends on service agents, that's quicker, the enforcement people that can take longer but like we said that

going after people that are midcareer and maybe hit the green running more quickly try what i wanted to the comments from danny on who they were hiring to take on this new level of enforcement. here he is at his swearing-in. >> we want people to avoid audit in first place but we understand we must safeguard the nation's tax law and revenue needs. so we will hire and train specially skilled staff to give as much greater capacity to unpack complex return filings of high income taxpayers, large corporations and complex partnerships. let me note something about our civil side compliance employees. despite what some might think or say, these public servants within the irs are armed only with calculators and their skills to help us address complex issues. their work will give people confidence that all taxpayers regardless of means are