WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative David Schweikert (AZ-01) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel demanding the agency provide a copy of a memorandum detailing the recommendation to destroy 30 million unprocessed, paper-filed information tax returns in March 2021 and answer questions that the agency willfully ignored from Republicans last year. 

Committee Republicans have repeatedly sought this key document since the tax returns were destroyed, but the IRS continues to refuse to hand over the memorandum three years later.

Schweikert and Smith highlight how the failure of the Biden Administration to respond to the Committee’s multiple requests harms the ability of Congress to perform appropriate oversight that could lead to reforms to reduce burdens on American taxpayers:

“The Biden Administration’s refusal to respond to the Committee, engage in a substantive discussion with staff about the request, and ultimately deny access to the decision memorandum obstructs Congress’s ability to conduct our important oversight responsibilities…The decision to destroy information returns diligently prepared by millions of American taxpayers demands congressional oversight. The destruction of these returns raises the question of whether information reporting should be scaled back to reduce the burden placed on taxpayers in reporting information the IRS does not even use.”

The letter lays out in detail the timeline of the IRS’ failure to comply with congressional oversight:

• March 2021 – IRS destroys 30 million paper-filed, informational tax returns.
• May 4, 2022 – Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) publishes report documenting IRS operations in which it discloses the destruction of the 30 million records. The Ways and Means Committee is made aware through a briefing by TIGTA during which TIGTA agrees to provide the decision memorandum to the committee upon approval by the IRS.
• May 17, 2022 – Committee staff request a copy of the memorandum. Within 24 hours, the IRS denies the request, claiming that releasing it would pose “significant risk to the agency.”
• June 13, 2022 – Ways and Means Republican Leader sends a letter to the IRS requesting a copy of the memorandum and asking questions about what impact this decision to destroy 30 million tax returns will have on taxpayers and what steps the IRS is taking to improve its processes.
• July 26, 2022 – Ways and Means Republicans file a congressional Resolution of Inquiry directing the Treasury Secretary to provide Congress a copy of the IRS Small Business/Self Employed Division Decision Memorandum and any other memorandum related to the decision to destroy 30 million tax returns. The Democrat majority on the Committee votes down the resolution.
• October 20, 2022 – Ways and Means Republicans send letter to IRS instructing the agency to preserve all documents and communications related to the memorandum and reiterating the committee’s request for a copy.

Read the full letter here.