Tech startup executive, Sam Corcos, has canceled $1.5 billion in contracts from the IRS’s technology modernization program, finding legacy contracts worth tens of billions of dollars that were decades behind schedule. Corcos, a special adviser to the Treasury and member of President Trump’s informal Department of Government Efficiency, is aiming to streamline the IRS’s technology budget, which includes $3.7 billion for modernization and $3.5 billion for information technology systems.
The IRS recently announced a pause in technology modernization investments to reevaluate its operating approach in light of new artificial intelligence technologies. This marks a departure from the original $80 billion in IRS investment funding over a decade included in President Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
The modernization effort is crucial to revamping outdated computer systems, improving taxpayer services, and enhancing the IRS’s ability to collect taxes through sophisticated audits. Republicans in Congress have long targeted the supplemental funding, arguing that it was meant to harass taxpayers. Despite this, Corcos praised the dedication of the IRS’s 8,000 career IT employees, noting that they have been cooperative with the cost review.
Corcos aims to cut unnecessary spending and bring down the agency’s IT costs, which he believes are currently higher than those of private-sector banks processing similar amounts of data. The true impact of the budget cuts and their legality are being challenged in court, but Corcos remains committed to streamlining the IRS’s technology budget and bringing it up to date.
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