Press Releases

In a bipartisan letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) is calling for answers over the database systems crash that occurred last week on Tax Day, the final day of the fiscal year for Americans to pay their taxes. The letter, led by DelBene, is also signed by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). 

“The bottom line is this was a major inconvenience for millions of taxpayers, causing them needless anxiety over whether their taxes would be paid on time,” said DelBene. “Some very basic questions need to be answered, like what exactly caused this crash and were people’s personal data exposed in any way? I look forward to working with the IRS to find these answers so we can make sure this terrible accident doesn’t repeat itself.”

The IRS experienced failures to the Direct Pay and Payment Plan functions on their website. These systems allow taxpayers, who owe taxes, to pay online without incurring any fees or penalties. The IRS was able to fix the problem later in the day, and taxpayers were granted a one-day extension to file their taxes online.

The full letter can be read here. Last week, Rep. DelBene introduced bipartisan bills which passed the House of Representatives, which addressed modernizing IRS technology and protecting taxpayers from identity fraud. You can read about those bills here and here.

Rep. DelBene is Vice-Chair of the New Democrats Coalition and serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.