DATA IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The Internal Revenue Service uses a variety of technological systems to administer the tax code, and many of those tech systems are aging. To develop new tech capabilities and update existing systems, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) allocated funding to IRS modernization efforts. The IRS spent $5.7 billion in IRA funding on technology transformation before pausing its modernization efforts in March 2025 to begin developing another modernization framework. New data initiatives in 2025–in conjunction with questions about DOGE’s access to taxpayer data and IRS-ICE data sharing–provoked widespread alarm about taxpayer privacy. Search here for statistics on the progress of IRS modernization efforts.
Data highlights:
- Percent of investments within 10% cost variance, 2012-2024 (xlsx)
This metric is the percentage of major IT investments in a fiscal year with actual or projected cost within +/-10% of the planned cost.
- Percent of investments within 10% schedule variance, 2012-2024 (xlsx)
This metric is the percentage of major IT investments in a fiscal year with actual or projected days to completion within +/-10% of the planned number of days to completion.
Related documents and reporting:
Data and privacy
- 7/28/2025: IRS to overhaul decades-old tax IT system that’s under DOGE scrutiny (Federal News Network)
- 4/14/2025: IRS chief information officer announces resignation on eve of tax-filing day (Reuters)
- 4/11/2025: Palantir Is Helping DOGE With a Massive IRS Data Project (Wired)
- 4/5/2025: DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data (Wired)
- 3/13/2025: Top IRS Lawyer Set to Be Demoted Amid Taxpayer Data-Sharing Clash (WSJ)
Modernization
- 9/2025: Information Technology: IRS Is Developing a New Modernization Framework (GAO)
- 3/14/2025: US IRS pauses modernization investments to evaluate AI technology (Reuters)
Analysis and commentary
- 11/18/2025: Vendor capture and the limits of fast government reform (Niskanen Center)
- 6/18/2025: IRS Modernization Requires Fundamental Digital Transformation (TPC)
- 5/30/2025: What Are The Trump Administration’s Intentions For The IRS’s Modernization? (TPC)
- 4/8/2025: IRS “hackathon” poses major risks to taxpayers (TLC)
You can also download a spreadsheet with the full list of available data, including the range of years for which data is available.
The IRS Spotlight © 2025 by The Brookings Institution is licensed under CC BY 4.0