Naomi Jagoda

J. Russell George, who served as a key IRS watchdog for nearly two decades, most notably during the 2013 controversy over groups’ applications for tax-exempt status—died earlier this week after a lengthy illness.

Read More: House GOP punts on IRS funding bill. TIGTA’s advice for IRS phone service.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 65,000 IRS employees across the country, announced Tuesday that National Executive Vice President Doreen Greenwald was elected its new national president.

IRS revenue officers no longer will make unannounced visits to taxpayers about unpaid taxes and unfiled tax returns, ending a decadeslong practice, the agency announced Monday.

Enforcement actions against wealthy taxpayers the IRS is touting are largely clear-cut and don’t reflect more complicated enforcement issues on the horizon, those following the agency said.

The IRS is taking “swift and aggressive action” to strengthen enforcement efforts against high-income individuals as it starts to use the funding it received in the tax-and-climate law, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said.

The IRS is taking steps to target transactions it thinks could be abusive—with a new twist.

President Joe Biden on Friday announced that he is nominating Marjorie Rollinson to be IRS chief counsel, a position that would play a key role in implementing the Inflation Reduction Act.

With the Internal Revenue Service moving towards offering a free online tool that taxpayers can use to file their tax returns directly with the agency, it faces several pitfalls.

The IRS’s “initial findings” concur with a recent study that found Black taxpayers may be disproportionately audited, and the agency is evaluating how its processes may play a factor, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel wrote in a letter Monday.

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel talks to Bloomberg Tax’s Naomi Jagoda in his first podcast interview since his confirmation in March. Werfel talks about his goals for his first six months on the job, how he plans to keep Congress informed about the agency’s work, how he plans to improve trust in the agency, and more.

The IRS finally has a blueprint for spending the $80 billion it got from the tax-and-climate law. The long-awaited document lays out key goals and timetables to boost taxpayer services, technology, and enforcement. But key details that lawmakers, former Treasury and IRS officials, and tax professionals were hoping to see are missing. And IRS observers see potential pitfalls the agency will have to avoid.

The IRS on Thursday released a long-awaited blueprint on how it will spend the nearly $80 billion it got in last year’s tax and climate law, with Commissioner Danny Werfel strengthening the agency’s vow to not increase audit rates for households making under $400,000.

The IRS plans to use about $8.6 billion of its tax-and-climate law funds in fiscal 2023 and 2024, according to a recently released budget document from the Biden administration.

A high-profile study finding racial disparities in IRS audit rates is fueling a push among Democratic lawmakers, professors, and others for the IRS to use some of its new funds to help address the issue.

A new study by researchers at a trio of universities and the Treasury Department reports that Black taxpayers are audited at 2.9 to 4.7 times the rate of other taxpayers. It also found Black taxpayers claiming the earned income tax credit are more likely to be audited than non-Black taxpayers claiming the credit.

At the start of the tax filing season, the Treasury Department is highlighting several efforts the IRS has taken to improve customer service using some of the funds it received in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The IRS is in the midst of a return-to-office effort that will offer many employees the option to telework some or most of the time, something agency officials and union leaders view as an asset in recruiting.

The IRS’s new option for creating an online account requires taxpayers to follow a 17-step process to verify their identity, including a virtual interview with a third-party representative.