IRS initiates safety probe after threats to workers

By FATIMA HUSSEIN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service says it is conducting a comprehensive review of safety at its facilities. The action comes in response to an increasing number of threats borne of conspiracy theories that agents were going to aggressively target middle-income taxpayers. The climate, healthcare and tax legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden last week included $80 billion in funding for tax collection efforts. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen specifically directed the agency to not focus its attention on taxpayers with middle-class incomes, but misinformation spread rapidly online that agents were going to crack down on taxpayers of all earnings levels.