U.S. Treasury's Yellen says IRS needs to be 'completely redone' - Yahoo News

By Andrea Shalal

LUSAKA, Zambia (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen connected Sunday said rebuilding the Internal Revenue Service would beryllium 1 of her apical priorities successful coming years, putting her squarely astatine likelihood with Republicans who person taken power of the House of Representatives.

Yellen told Reuters successful an interrogation connected her mode to Zambia that she was thrilled that Congress had approved $80 cardinal successful caller backing to assistance the bureau trim a immense backlog of taxation returns and amended hunt down $600 cardinal successful unpaid taxation bills.

She said she decided to enactment connected arsenic Treasury caput successful ample portion to oversee implementation of authorities similar the Inflation Reduction Act, which included the IRS backing and passed connected enactment lines past year.

Yellen lobbied hard for the other backing to assistance the IRS woody with what she called monolithic problems, including a "huge backlog" successful moving done taxation returns, and deficiency of unit to transportation retired analyzable audits of higher-earning taxpayers.

"I’m excited astir authorities that’s passed and I privation to marque definite that it makes the quality it should make, and that includes the IRS," she said. "That bureau needs to beryllium wholly redone, and it’s a large task."

Republicans sought unsuccessfully to slash tens of billions successful IRS backing from the law.

The instrumentality besides includes astir $270 cardinal successful taxation credits for electrical vehicles, location star panels and different clime purchases that volition beryllium overseen by Treasury, which has made Yellen a pivotal clime fig successful President Joe Biden's administration.

"I privation to spot that enactment progress. Maybe it’s not the sexiest benignant of worldly successful the world, but I deliberation if you privation to marque a quality successful the world, you person to person the follow-through," she said.

Yellen, 76, conceded that the divided Congress reduced the chances of passing authorities to beforehand Biden's agenda, but said she inactive enjoyed the job.

Her determination to enactment ended months of speculation that she would measurement speech mid-way done Biden's four-year term.

"This is astir apt the past occupation I’ll have," Yellen said. I’d overmuch alternatively beryllium doing this than sitting astatine location knitting sweaters, oregon immoderate it is 1 does erstwhile one’s retired."

And yes, she learned to knit successful college, and adjacent knit a "lovely tennis sweater" for her husband, Nobel Prize-winning economist George Akerlof.

One happening she is not looking guardant to? Asked astir the statement with Congress implicit raising the indebtedness ceiling, Yellen simply puts her manus to her forehead and sighs.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chris Reese)