A group of Republicans on the House’s taxwriting committee are pushing for an examination of how artificial intelligence can be used by the IRS for enforcement purposes.
Ways and Means Vice Chair Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Oversight Subcommittee Chair David Schweikert (R-AZ) introduced the DETECT Act (H.R. 4974) this month, which calls on the Government Accountability Office to study AI-assisted tax fraud detection. Noting that “[t]he IRS identified over $9.1 billion in fraud from tax and financial crimes in Fiscal Year 2024 alone,” Buchanan said he hopes the agency can “harness” AI to “strengthen fraud detection.”
If enacted, the GAO would be required under the legislation to submit a report to Congress’ taxwriting committees – House Ways and Means and Senate Finance – within 180 days.
The bill seemingly contrasts with recent Republican priorities for the IRS. The Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill released last month would reduce IRS enforcement funding by over 45% for fiscal year 2026. President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2026, too, calls for a sharp drop in IRS enforcement funding.
But the DETECT Act sponsors speak favorably about recent IRS “momentum” on enforcement in an August 19 press release. They note that in 2020, IRS Criminal Investigation conducted 1,598 investigations – but that number grew to 2,667 investigations by 2024. The total value of tax fraud identified, too, grew over the same period – from $2.3 billion in 2020 to $9.1 billion last year.
Buchanan posits that by using AI for enforcement, the agency can “conduct efficient, thorough investigations” and “cut waste.”
The IRS, in fact, has already been using AI in some enforcement contexts. Among those current uses are large partnership compliance, the Large Business and International Division’s line anomaly recommender, and the Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) Division’s issue recommender.
A May 2025 Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report looked at those AI uses in the LB&I and SB/SE divisions. According to TIGTA’s evaluation, AI work began as early as 2017 for those divisions’ projects.
TIGTA says that in recent years, the IRS was making use of additional funding under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to strengthen its enforcement efforts, including through “cutting-edge technology, data, and analytics.” Like the DETECT Act sponsors, the IRS’ aim is to close the estimated $688 billion annual tax gap.
However, TIGTA, in its May report, notes that much of the Inflation Reduction Act funding has been clawed back. Between those rescissions and staffing reductions, “it is now unclear if the IRS will be able to pursue and achieve [its] plans,” said TIGTA.
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