Fiscal Year 2002 Budget Request for the Internal Revenue Service

For fiscal year 2002, Congress has before it two separate budget requests for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)--the traditional request prepared by the administration and a separate request prepared by the IRS Oversight Board. There are some significant differences between the two requests. The administration is requesting about $9.4 billion while the Board is requesting an additional $300 million. This correspondence addresses several questions related to (1) the differences between the two requests, (2) IRS' hiring plans for its Staffing Tax Administration for Balance and Equity initiative, (3) the productivity of IRS staff, and (4) business systems modernization.