Mobility Matters

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released its Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan (the “Plan”) in April 2023. The Plan outlines the IRS's proposed spending of nearly USD 80 billion in mandatory funding it will receive under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”)¹ over a ten-year period. The funds received under the IRA are intended to supplement the IRS's annual appropriations from Congress. However, the debt ceiling deal negotiated between the White House and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives eliminated approximately USD 21 billion of this funding². Despite this, the Plan's basic goals remain unchanged.

The Plan sets out five broad objectives the IRS would like to achieve with the funding provided by the IRA. These objectives include dramatically improving services to help taxpayers meet their obligations and receive the tax incentives for which they are eligible, quickly resolving taxpayer issues when they arise, focusing expanded enforcement on taxpayers with complex tax filings and high-dollar noncompliance to address the tax gap, delivering cutting-edge technology, data, and analytics to operate more effectively, and attracting, retaining, and empowering a highly-skilled, diverse workforce and developing a culture that is better equipped to deliver results for taxpayers.

For globally-mobile employees, their employers, and their tax service providers, the IRS's plans serve as a reminder to factor in more time around information collection and to exercise extra due diligence when evaluating the accuracy of their returns/return positions. This article will examine the Plan's stated objectives, how the IRS intends to achieve those objectives, and what the Plan means for taxpayers. Read the full article.