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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

Has the IRS budget decreased in real terms in recent years?

By Lauralei Singsank
YES

Funding for the Internal Revenue Service has fallen 21% in real terms over the past ten years, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank. “Underfunding [IRS] enforcement empowers tax avoiders and evaders...while hurting honest tax filers,” a CBPP researcher told Congress in February.

Since 1989, the agency's staff has shrunk 36%, despite an increased taxpayer population, new tax measures, the globalization of corporate activity and an expanded role in administering social programs.

The IRS's 2020 funding request of $11.47 billion was comparable to funding levels in the early 2000s.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the IRS examined 46% fewer individual income tax returns between 2010 and 2018, and reduced funds and staff allocated to enforcement activities by 30%.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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