The Internal Revenue Service is undergoing risk assessments while working with its employees' union and law-enforcement officials on a comprehensive review of security and safety protocols, saying that it is getting threats and is subject to misinformation being posted through social media after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes funding to hire more agents.
Commissioner Charles Rettig, in a message to employees, said there have been unspecified threats that were "concerning," and that potential security measures are being considered, including examining exterior lighting and security measures at agency buildings, reports The Wall Street Journal.
"For me this is personal," Rettig wrote. "I'll continue to make every effort to dispel any lingering misperceptions about our work. And I will continue to advocate for your safety in every venue where I have an audience."
Rettig was nominated in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump. His term ends in November.
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last week by President Joe Biden, allots almost $80 billion to the IRS over the next 10 years to enhance tax enforcement. It will allow for the hiring of 87,000 new employees, including some new hires to fill spots left open through retirement and attrition.
The spending has come under fire by Republicans, who warn that the new IRS agents will target small business owners and lower-income Americans. Some of the employees to be hired will either audit taxpayers or collect taxes directly, while others will work in offices, but a small fraction of the new agents will carry firearms.
Leaders of the American College of Tax Counsel, a group of tax lawyers, on Monday called on GOP leaders to pull back some of their rhetoric.
"False, misleading, and vitriolic comments that portray the IRS as an armed militia risk a treacherous and violent reaction, and they must stop now," wrote Armando Gomez and Larry Campagna, private-sector tax lawyers and the group's president and vice president.
The security review is the first full examination to take place since the 1990s for the IRS, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has operations in several locations across the country, including large locations that process tax returns and smaller offices in federal buildings.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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