In the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Congress boosted the Internal Revenue Service’s funding by nearly $80 billion over a 10-year span to spur transformative changes at the agency. But since then, Congress has cut the act’s funding by more than half and has frozen the IRS’s regular annual appropriations at 2022 levels.

In addition to the funding cuts, the IRS faces other challenges. Since February, about 11,000 employees—11 percent of the IRS’s workforce—have been laid off or accepted a buyout. More layoffs could follow. And despite claims that technological advancements—such as greater reliance on artificial intelligence—will fill the void left by the laid-off workers, the IRS has paused its modernization initiatives.

This event, part of the Donald C. Lubick Symposium Series, will feature two expert panels discussing the ramifications of the rollbacks in IRS funding and staffing for tax administration and the tax code.