Transition of power from
Trump Transition refers
Transition of power
Prom
Former Congressman Billy Long, who represented Missouri for six terms, has been chosen by Trump to lead the IRS. Long has been involved in assisting businesses in claiming a tax credit during the pandemic, which has faced issues with fraud and has ended up costing the government more than expected.
Written by Andrew Duehren
Providing updates from
On Wednesday, President-elect Donald J. Trump announced his intention to nominate Billy Long, a former Missouri congressman, to take over as the head of the Internal Revenue Service. This decision implies that Trump plans to remove the current IRS leader, who was appointed by Biden.
Following his defeat in a Senate primary in 2022, Mr. Long has promoted a tax credit that was meant to help during the pandemic but has instead been plagued by fraud, causing the government to lose billions more than anticipated. In response, lawmakers have attempted to stop the tax credit and the IRS has halted processing claims temporarily in order to identify and eliminate false applications.
During a podcast interview in 2023, Mr. Long talked about how he and his team have successfully helped businesses take advantage of the Employee Retention Tax Credit, with no claims being denied by the tax agency so far. This program, established by Congress and Mr. Trump in 2020 as part of a stimulus bill, aims to encourage businesses to continue paying their employees during times of economic shutdown.
"We do not engage in any deceptive practices," he stated. "We ensure that individuals qualify for this refund from the I.R.S. with added interest."
President Biden has been investing a significant amount of money into updating the I.R.S. and enhancing its tax collection processes to provide better service to taxpayers and combat tax evasion. Mr. Trump’s recent selection for the agency could potentially bring about significant changes during this crucial time.
President Biden selected Daniel Werfel, a former management consultant and government employee with experience in both Democratic and Republican administrations, to spearhead the reformation of the I.R.S in 2022. Werfel’s term was scheduled to continue until 2027.
We are experiencing difficulties in accessing the content of the article.
Kindly activate JavaScript in the settings of your web browser.
We appreciate your understanding as we confirm your access. If you are currently using Reader mode, please close it and sign in to your Times account, or consider subscribing to access all of The Times’ content.
We appreciate your understanding as we confirm access.
Are you currently using this service? Please sign in to access
Interested in accessing all of the content from The Times? Sign up
Prom
Index of Pages
Navigation for Site Information