Secretary Yellen Delivers Remarks at the Internal Revenue Service in Austin, Texas.

e I want to start out by thanking every single person that works for the IRS and the federal government you really are doing the work for the people and I want to start with a round of applause for each and every one of you thank you so much for what you do uh I I in particular really want to thank the commissioner uh and the secretary for being here I really look forward to hearing uh their remarks but want to start out um really by going back to where we started which is that the IRS is for the people our federal government is for the people and I'm so proud to serve in Congress uh representing this Center uh and these employees because you make sure that this country can run if you want to make sure that Social Security is funded for generations to come then we need to invest in the IRS and in its people and in its in its equipment and its employees if we want to make sure that our veterans get the benefits that they've earned to make sure that our highways are fixed to make sure that our water and our air are clean then we need to stand up for the people that do this work every single day sorting that mail responding to customers making sure that big corporations and the wealthiest among us actually have to pay their fair share just like teachers and nurses and custodial workers do that's the work that happens every single day in this building and in this city that I'm so proud to represent and so we as leaders are really here uh to stand up for you um because of the hard work that it is that you do every single day uh and I'm so appreciative that we have the president of nteu here in from Washington DC who we know stand up for uh our working people here in Austin Texas I also uh want to comment a little bit on uh my first ter in Congress uh the very first bill that I was asked to vote on as I stepped on to the house floor as a member of Congress it wasn't about uh Public Safety it wasn't about the climate crisis it wasn't about raising worker wages or civil rights it was a bill to say we needed to slash a proposal to slash funding from the inflation reduction act that was going to the IRS it was that money that we have continued to defend that invests in the new equipment in these buildings that invests in making sure that working people get the customer service that they deserve that invest in making sure that corporations and billionaires have to pay their fair share and not cheat on their taxes and I want you to know that thanks to the Biden Administration thanks to leadership of folks like secretary Ellen and thanks to leaders in Congress we're dedicated to protecting that inflation reduction act money because we believe that working people deserve great customer service and that the tax system should be fair whether you are a Public Employee whether you are a teacher whether you are a billionaire um that folks should be treated fairly um and that we are going to defend off those special interests that want to uh protect the wealthiest from paying their fair share when we know working people here in Texas are really doing their Fair part and so I want y'all to know the message uh that we see the work that you do every single day uh and I'm really proud to represent and support an Administration that has been so Pro consumer and pro- worker and recognizes the work that you do here every day so thank you guys so very very much for all of [Applause] that um the next speaker um is somebody really special uh to to all of us and really uh to the whole country now uh she's a constituent in Texas 35 um and uh and Dixie Warden uh was the first person to use the direct file system uh which I know so many people here work worked so hard to build and to maintain to make sure that taxpayers can file their taxes in a way that is fast and simple and free um because that is what we as Congressional Democrats and what the Biden Administration have been committed to is making sure that the consumer and the taxpayer can make can can do things simply there's enough hard things in life let's make filing your taxes simple and fair and free and if we can do that if we can take the burden off everyday people and then make sure that the most powerful actually do their heart uh then I'm really excited about what the future can bring for this country because I know things can feel really hard for folks but there is I think hope when we lead and when folks work to make sure that we make things easier for the everyday person uh I was talking with Vixie a little bit earlier um about making sure that the future here for our young people and I know she's joined here uh by her by her kids Owen and Mia and Dylan we're so excited to have you guys here to hear your mom talk um that the future for our young people can be bright if we actually invest in building this country together um and the direct file system is a great example of that of how real leadership is just saying we're going to make life easier on the everyday person and that's what I think the real message is that we want to take away here today by investing in the IRS by investing in real leadership we can make life easier for the everyday person and make sure that those folks uh that are billionaires trying to hide their taxes in some offshore account that we catch them and we make sure that they chip in their fair share too uh to protect the future uh of our kids and so Dixie we're really really happy to have you I'm proud to have you as a constituent and really excited to hear what you have to say thank you all so much and let's hear it for Dixie [Applause] Warden thank you so much Congressman good morning my name is Dixie Warden I'm an HR specialist here at the IRS in Austin Texas I was also lucky enough to be the first person ever to use the direct file my reason was pretty simple I just wanted to save some money like we all do I wanted to save some money for my kiddos here and I did just that I filed my taxes it was fast and it was easy and I got it done you know exactly as I expected I loved the whole thing afterwards I was a little bit confused because I was asked to do an interview and I was like for what filing my taxes we all have to do that what's what's the big deal and looking back on it now I realize all the hard work that was put into the direct file let us the IRS make a good first impression this direct file has the capability to keep millions of dollars in taxpayers Pockets that is a huge deal and I'm so proud to be a part of it even though I was very small and didn't think anything of it at the time now I I see all the work that went into it and I'm just so thankful to be a part of an agency that helps make sure that the tax system is fair and easy for all taxpayers and now it is my great honor to introduce treasury secretary Janet Yellen secretary Yellen was sworn in as treasury secretary in January of 2021 she is the first person in American history to have led the White House Council of economic advisers the Federal Reserve and the treasury Department all three secretary Yellen has a strong has been a strong advocate of the IRS and our people we appreciate what she's done to help secure 10-year funding for the IRS that's going to help transform and modernize the US tax system she's committed to helping us make these historic Innovations and she's made improving our service to taxpayers a priority secretary Ellen on behalf of me and all of my IRS colleagues here in Austin we appreciate your leadership and all that you've done for us please join me in welcoming secretary Janet [Applause] Yellen well Dixie thank you so much for that lovely introduction I'm glad to be introduced by someone who has benefited directly from our work to transform the Internal Revenue Service and I'm glad to be here with commissioner worl nteu National president Daren Greenwald and so many dedicated and talented IRS colleagues and to be joined by Congressman Kazar during the covid-19 pandemic the cafeteria area we're in now became so full of paper that it couldn't function as a cafeteria now thanks to your hard work in the inflation reduction act it's back to fully functioning and the center has also been upgraded with new equipment as have other high volume centers around the country I'm in Austin to Mark how the IRA is enabling change I'll Focus today on what we've achieved in two key areas first cracking down on tax evasion to advance tax fairness where I'll announce a new milestone in our efforts to pursue wealthy taxpayers who haven't filed in years and second getting all taxpayers the support they deserve so that they can get more Breathing Room in their household budgets but let me start by stepping back and putting this progress in broader context over the past three and a half years the Biden Harris Administration has driven an historic economic recovery last week the second estimate of second quarter GDP growth came in at 3% that affirms that the path we're on to strong growth and declining inflation this morning we learned that our economy added more than 140,000 jobs in August and un the unemployment rate tick down and remains near historically low levels taken together this affirms we have a robust economy and we have a strong labor market even as we've brought inflation down significantly over the last two years and as we transition to sustainable growth moving forward we recognize the cost for key household expenses including Health Care housing and energy they're still too high and bringing them down is our administration's top economic priority in the short term we're also focused on implementing a strategy I've called modern supply side economics it's a strategy that focuses on expanding the economy's capacity to produce to drive inclusive economic growth in the medium to long term and transforming the IRS is key to both of these goals in the short term the IRS is one of the few agencies that American families interact with each and every year and taxpayers deserve to easily meet their obligations and get the tax credits and the deductions for which they're eligible in the medium and long term our economic strategy involves implementing tax incentives to drive private sector investments in the industries of the future and to support people in places that have been left out or left behind but for far too long the IRS has has not been equipped to give taxpayers the support they deserve nor to support our country's growth despite the tireless work of IRS employees Decades of underfunding have meant slow processing times unnecessary errors and way too large a Gap a tax Gap that's the amount of taxes owed but not paid over the past past two years the inflation reduction Act made possible by the president and vice president's leadership and congress's support that's finally enabled us to start changing this let me address our work to crack down on tax evasion so that high earners pay what they owe now for too long this just hadn't been happening between 2010 and 2018 the audit rate for millionaires fell by 80% and during the previous administration as audit rates on high income taxpayers fell the share of audits on taxpayers with incomes under $200,000 increased in 2019 the top 1% of Americans was estimated to owe over one5 of unpaid taxes that left ordinary Americans to shoulder the burden to fix this we've channeled Ira funding toward significant Investments to combat tax evasion and I'm glad to now share the first results of an initiative we launched to pursue 125,000 wealthy taxpayers who had not filed taxes for years the IRS had not had the re resources to pursue these wealthy non-filers well now it does and we're making significant progress today I'm announcing that in only 6 months nearly 21,000 of these taxpayers have already filed that has led to $172 million recovered and this is just a first M Stone we look forward to more progress ahead the IRS has also made substantial progress to collect tax debt from wealthy filers and I'm glad to share today that nearly 80% of 1600 millionaires with delinquent tax debt have now paid leading to over $1.1 billion recovered [Applause] and this is an additional $ hundred million just since July when we announced reaching the billion doll Milestone and the IRS has launched audits of 76 of the largest Partnerships from hedge funds to law firms with average assets of $10 billion it's working to close a major tax loophole that's exploited by complex Partnerships it's cracked down on the abuse of corporate jets for personal travel and it's now launching audits of the 60 largest corporate taxpayers with average assets of $24 billion well these efforts matter they are advancing fairness it's just not right that everyday Americans pay taxes while struggling to make ends meet but some of the wealthiest in this country have been able to evade payment our successes also bolster our country's economic strength Treasury and IRS analysis shows that our investments in technology data and high-end enforcement if extended as our Administration has proposed that could generate $851 billion in addition Revenue over the next decade and this is money our government needs it needs it to protect our national security to provide Social Security and health care and invest in our nation's infrastructure among many other priorities let me now turn to our efforts to support all taxpayers as they engage with the IRS filing taxes claiming credits and deductions and getting refunds storin said it should be easy but for too long this too hasn't worked it's been unpredictable and frustrating so we're also putting Ira funding towards significant investments in customer service and here too we're seeing significant results in filing season 2024 we reached an 88% level of service and that's compared to a 15% level of service in 2022 before the IRA was passed in 2024 we brought phone weight T times down to an average of 3 minutes that compares to 28 minutes before the IRA was passed and we expanded in-person service at new or reopened taxpayer assistance centers across the country we've also improved po tools like where's my refund which now provides taxpayers with clearer and more detailed updates and we launched I should say Dixie launched um an entirely new product called direct file that allows eligible taxpayers to file for free online directly with the IRS the direct file pilot this past year was a huge success it saved those who participated and estimated $5.6 million in filing fees and allowed them to claim more than $90 million in refunds in response to demand from taxpayers from over 200 organizations representing communities across the United States and from over a hundred members of Congress commissioner worful and I announced in June June that we are making direct file a permanent offering and we've invited all states to participate as soon as next filing season already nine states have answered that call and other states are preparing to join and today we Mark another step forward for too long the IRS has relied on outdated technology for its work I'm glad to now announce the IRS is complet Ed a critical step toward upgrading its core tax processing system this will enable the IRS to process data quickly transparently and securely and to reflect tax LW changes and emergency benefit programs and this will in turn usher in a new reality for taxpayers taxpayers should be able to access realtime account information and take action to claim credits and get refunds just as just as they use the website or mobile app for their bank and we're now well on the way to making this happen through the digital first initiative taxpayers are already able to use their online accounts to view refunds and certain Audits and to access other services the the IRS has made 200 different notices and letters available online and plans to make dozens more available by the end of this year counting these and other Innovations the IRS has launched more digital tools in the past two years than in the previous 20 and these changes matter they make it easier for taxpayers to pay their taxes and to get credits and deductions from $7500 uh the credit for the purchase of an electric vehicle to up to 30% of the cost of residential home energy Investments things like solar panels and energy efficient improvements like insulation these credits make these Investments more affordable and they position taxpayers to be able to bring down their expenses and create more breathing room in their household budgets in the years to come but even as we make progress we continue to face challenges from those in Congress who want to cut the funding that's enabling it and I just say this would be disastrous it could make it easier for wealthy Americans and corporations to avoid paying what they owe while working Americans foot the bill it could leave American households and businesses without the support they deserve and it could contribute to increasing our country's deficit so I want to end by thanking all IRS employees here today and across the country you did all you could for many years with limited resources and you're now doing all you can thanks to the IRA to make transforming the IRS a reality I'm committed to continuing to support you in your ongoing work and I hope you feel very proud to see your work paying off I know it often has not been easy but you're showing the country what a group of committed public service service servants can do when you're given the tools to succeed I also want to thank commissioner worle for his commitment to this work and for his leadership and I want to thank you again for having me here and I'll turn over the floor to the [Applause] commissioner it's great to be back at our Austin campus and I'm excited to join secretary Yellen in announcing continued progress on our transformation work I want to thank secretary Yellen for her unfailing support of the IRS its employees and the important work they do for taxpayers I also want to acknowledge Dorene Greenwald and Tu president and thank her for her leadership and her partnership and championing IRS employees and working to ensure their success and I want to say a special thank you to our Austin employees for their hard work year in and year out they faced severe challenges due to underfunding and the covid pandemic but they have persevered and are now providing critical support to the iris's efforts to transform our agency as the secretary pointed out the Austin cafeteria is symbolic of where we were prior to the inflation reduction Act and where we are today during the pandemic this cafeteria wasn't serving food it had ended up being filled with paper because we didn't have enough people to work all of the tax returns we simply ran out of space the funding we received under the inflation reduction act in August of 2022 allowed us to dig out of a deep hole it allowed us to get back to better taxpayer service standards and lay the foundation for more transformation improvements to come just as we've cleaned up the Austin cafeteria and got it back to functioning as intended we've also been cleaning up the tax administration problems left by years of underfunding and we are making significant progress transforming the agency and improving the interactions taxpayers have with the IRS inflation reduction act funding is allowing us to upgrade our technology it's allowing us to take modernization steps that are long overdue we have a historic opportunity to move Beyond just basic service and to build a 21st century tax agency to serve the American people in the manner they expect and at the level they deserve if the IRS continues on this trajectory I believe we will meet the generational imperative needed for the nation's Tax Administration system on several fronts this work will enable all taxpayers to complete all interactions with the IRS digitally if they choose the IRS will be better equipped to disrupt tax scams and provide immediate and comprehensive victim support when scams occur we will complete and sustain new solutions for protecting taxpayer data from un unauthorized access and disclosure and we will put in place increasingly accurate audit selection methods that hold accountable those taxpayers who use complex Financial Maneuvers to Shield income while avoiding burdening those taxpayers who play by the rules including lower income taxpayers our work isn't done not by a long shot but there should be no mistake no mistaking the remarkable historic progress the IRS has accomplished during the past two years these efforts to serve taxpayers and improve Tax Administration will continue to intensify and accelerate in the upcoming months and into the future our transformation efforts are also focused on ensuring fairness in the tax system if you boil this down it means law abiding taxpayers will get better service and more help at the same time we are in increasing our scrutiny of complex filers that have decided they won't play by the rules I'm proud that this year the IRS had one of its best filing seasons ever in terms of taxpayers service taxpayers saw a difference during the 2024 filing season we answered over 1 million more taxpayer calls than we did a year ago and 3 million more calls than we did in 2022 wait times and level of service on our main phone lines improved we dramatically expanded service in our walk-in sites increasing hours and serving more taxpayers and new and expanded tools on irs.gov saw heavy use as secretary Yellen has noted improving service is only part of the equation I'm proud we're making critical inroads in addressing tax evasion among the most complex and largest filers especially high wealth individuals large corporations and complex Partnerships we are making a difference in tax compliance inflation reduction act funding has allowed us to take concrete steps in all three areas including recovering back taxes for millionaires with overdue tax bills and launching an initiative to crack down on abusive corporate Jets secretary secretary Ellen's announcement that we have collected $172 million so far from millionaires who weren't filing tax returns shows that our non-filer program is back back thanks to inflation reduction act funding this is part of a large yes this is part of a larger effort our other work involving high income households that ow taxes is paying off nearly 80% of the 1600 millionaires with delinquent tax debt have now made a payment leading to over $1.1 billion dollar recovered this is an additional 100 million above our earlier results here's the other side of the compliance coin we're also taking steps to re refine audit tools to avoid burdening those taxpayers who play by the rules we are working to add more fairness to address audit disparities among low income taxpayers including Earned Income Tax Credit recipients as the IRS continues to work to formalize its methodology for audit rate reporting our focus on high high end enforcement will continue it's important to point out that the resources under the inflation reduction act have also made been a differen maker in our efforts to modernize our operations in one critical area we have reached a milestone in modernizing a core technology component of the individual Master file which houses taxpayer data and feeds into Key Systems we've been on a long journey to modernize from outdate ated 1960s technology and we're now taking the final steps towards a modern system this new system will allow us to make taxpayer history available in a modern data environment modernizing isn't just about efficiency it's about preventing a potential collapse of the technology that underpins the tax system and ensures consistent revenue for government operations when fully implemented it will be a GameChanger for our transformation efforts for example when a taxpayer calls with a question about their account our phone assists will be able to access real-time account information just like any bank or financial institution does when Congress passes an emergency benefit program for us to administer we will be able to move more quickly to get those benefits out to the people who need them ultimately it will help us build efficiency and reduce the cost of maintaining it systems another great example of how we're modernizing is our paperless processing initiative where we are moving towards the goal of digitizing all paper forms as soon as they are received we are also encouraging taxpayers to send us documents digitally using the document upload tool and that has been a great success this tool gives taxpayers and tax Pros the option to respond digitally to certain IRS notices by uploading any requirement documents through irs.gov usage of this tool recently hit an important Milestone reaching 1 million document submissions but while we have been making critical progress in our transformation work I want to be clear the IRS has much more to do on many fronts we need to close remaining gaps on phone service we need to De to to expand digital options for all taxpayers we need to further strengthen data security against evolving threats we need to enhance support for vulnerable populations by increasing access to the earned income tax credit and other refundable credits and we need to protect and support tax scam victims our ongoing success hinges on sustained Investments to make sure that we have the right size Workforce we need to ensure we provide our employees with the right training and tools as well as modern technology infrastructure to help taxpayers these are needed to allow the IRS to continue its transformation work to serve the nation today and into the future as secretary Yellen noted our ability to continue making progress on all these fronts can only happen if the IRS receives a consistent reliable funding stream both in regard to our annual Appropriations and maintaining inflation ruction act funding the decision about whether to adequately fund the agency comes down to some fundamental questions will taxpayers be able to easily interact with the IRS to meet their tax responsibilities or resolve issues if they arise will the IRS be able to ensure fairness in the tax system through its enforcement activities will we be able to quickly and effectively address tax scam that exploit vulnerable populations and will the IRS have the it infrastructure and modern technology platforms that can support our transformation work the answer to those questions is much different before and after the inflation reduction act the answer before August 2022 when the IRS was starve of resources was clearly know as the paper fied cafeteria here in Austin demonstrated but now the answer to those questions is yes today it's a whole new world for the IRS where we are working to address those issues and you can see it right here in Austin in many ways you can see the future of taxes right here in Texas we are fundamentally transforming and improving the IRS this is important for taxpayers and for the nation which relies on the revenue stream provided by the IRS for everything from defense to highways and social programs so we will build on the accomplishments of 2023 and 2024 filing seasons and continue to put in place improvements to help taxpayers ensure fairness and tax compliance and improved technology as commissioner I want people to know that the IRS is on the side of taxpayers and we continue our transformation work we will continue working to reflect that in every aspect of our operations while administering the nation's tax laws I want to close by expressing my appreciation to the IRS employees here in Austin and throughout the agency our employees have a deep belief in the importance of effectively serving taxpayers ensuring fairness in the tax administration and protecting taxpayer rights in everything they do they do extraordinary work both in lean times and during the past two years after the passage of the inflation reduction act and then they are the reason the secretary and I can stand here today and Report critical progress in our transformation work their dedication will ensure we can keep Transforming Our agency to better serve taxpayers and the tax system now it is my pleasure to introduce our national treasury employees union president Doren greenal [Applause] hello everyone it is great to be here in Austin so I am bringing out technology and trying to get away from paper so so let me um first off start off by thanking commissioner worle for the invite to come here today it's no accident that when I come to these meetings and I get to meet people and I've met them before it's because we're all engaged in the same kind of work so not only is it my honor to be here I also want to W welcome secretary um Yellen um secretary Yellen and I have met before and and that is a testament to how much she cares about the success of the IRS and not just the IRS but the employees who work for for the IR IRS for her to reach out and want to talk to the president of the Union about what employees are feeling what they are experiencing what's going on that's rare in these days and so I thank you Madam Secretary for all the work you do to make sure that the employees have what they need I also want to thank the congressman Congressman Kar for being here he is a friend and Ally of federal employees and lives by the words he said today um he is always fighting on the hill to make sure we have the resources we need and I appreciate that very much what I'm really excited about though and I want to thank everybody for being here is highlighting the incredible success of Austin employees you guys rock and don't let anybody tell you [Applause] differently look I know as others have said there was paper in this room that nobody could see over and down the hallways and far worse I can think back to 2021 if you recall Austin's um was ready to close their submission processing and at that time employees were like I don't know what they're thinking there was all this work what are we going to do and we were concerned about employees too and the IRS listened and they didn't close Austin and I'm really pleased because history has shown us to be correct today and look at where Austin is today so that is really a huge thing this would not have imp possible without the hard work and dedication of the employees here in Austin and across the entire country as the national president of N and a former IRS employee I know IRS employees I know the incredible knowledge and skill it takes to do the jobs that you do it takes years for employees to learn all that is required of them every employee has an important role and responsibility to help deliver the mission of the IRS and everyone should recognize and appreciate the enormous contributions to the success of of the IRS they have earned our respect and we must thank them for all the services they provide to taxpayers across the country so I know everybody's thanked you but let's give a round of applause to everybody thank you for the work you do I hope everyone will take a moment to consider how this looked from the employees point of view it wasn't that long ago that employees didn't have adequate supplies some are even purchasing their own just to get the job done Antiquated computers broken equipment slowed productivity knowing there weren't enough people to process paper and answer phone calls thanks to the funding from the inflation reduction act h in is underway and new technology is being installed supplies are now more readily available even new chairs are ordered and coming soon you know those things matter to you I'm I'm not talking lightly we must continue to build on this progress hiring is still needed we know it as new technology is installed employees will be trained as the IRS implements new processes employees will be needed more than ever so I want you to hear me when I say new technology does not mean you're going away commissioner worful has confirmed we need all of you to help get the job done and so let's Embrace this technology because we know it'll help us all deliver better for taxpayers as there is so much more to do let today be an example of how government when properly funded and staffed can dramatically improve its operations and make a real difference in people's lives n will continue to be a voice for IRS employees we will continue to partner with the IRS to help Implement solutions to further improve the IRS workplace and the and the needs of the IRS Workforce we will Embrace new technology that will further expand better service for taxpayers and help build a better culture that appreciate appreciates recognizes and Rewards Employees to ensure the IRS has what it takes to continue to attract and retain employees who will want to build a career of public service for the IRS today we celebrate progress but as everybody has said there is so much more to do but we need the proper funding and resources and I know we can continue need to count on IRS employees to deliver they've delivered before and they will deliver again so thank all of you [Applause]