Friends,

After the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act allocated nearly $80 billion in funding over the next 10 years to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), House Republicans made their first act as the majority in the House to vote to cut funding for the IRS.

The newly appointed House Speaker Mike Johnson has been proposing to repeal more than $14 billion of the IRS’ supplemental funding to pay for additional military aid to Israel—which would be an unprecedented attempt to cut funding for a domestic program to authorize military aid.

Like basically the entirety of Speaker Johnson’s policy ideas, voters disagree with attempts to defund the IRS, and would instead prefer more funding to support the organization's operations and even create a free tax-filing system. Here’s what our polling found:

The IRS is an often maligned government agency, but our polling shows voters want to see policy changes that make the organization run better, instead of defunding it. Polls like this one help shine a light on the fiscal policies voters support. Data for Progress is independent of corporate funding, which is why we’re able to deep dive into issues like these that impact voters' daily lives. Chip in to support our work!

Fifty-six percent of voters support allocating funding for the Internal Revenue Service so that it can modernize its operation, improve customer service, and increase law enforcement to recover unpaid taxes from corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

What’s more—66% of voters support the creation of a free, government-run tax-filing system so that Americans do not have to rely on paying third parties like H&R Block or TurboTax for tax return preparation services.

Our polling makes the argument that Americans want to create an IRS that works for everyday people. Help us get this polling in front of legislators so they can push for progress and ensure the IRS gets the funding it needs to serve taxpayers!

Thank you,

Data for Progress