The IRS fends off 4 million hacking attempts a day, Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday, saying the tax agency does a solid job of keeping intruders out of its databases, though hackers have managed to spoof some taxpayers and steal their information individually.
Mr. Koskinen begged for more money and talked about his repeated battles with Congress as he prepares to leave the IRS on Nov. 12, when his term ends.
Speaking to the Tax Policy Center, the commissioner said the agency is down tens of thousands of employees and has fallen behind on its budget, blamed Congress for not allocating more resources, but praised IRS employees for slogging through.
He also pointedly recalled efforts to impeach him for his handling of the tea party targeting scandal, which he was hired to clean up.
Mr. Koskinen did not, however, apologize to tea party groups for the targeting — though Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week said the IRS owes the groups a mea culpa.
He did praise the workers responsible for the targeting, saying that when he visited with them
Mr. Koskinen begged for more money and talked about his repeated battles with Congress as he prepares to leave the IRS on Nov. 12, when his term ends.
Speaking to the Tax Policy Center, the commissioner said the agency is down tens of thousands of employees and has fallen behind on its budget, blamed Congress for not allocating more resources, but praised IRS employees for slogging through.
He also pointedly recalled efforts to impeach him for his handling of the tea party targeting scandal, which he was hired to clean up.
Mr. Koskinen did not, however, apologize to tea party groups for the targeting — though Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week said the IRS owes the groups a mea culpa.
He did praise the workers responsible for the targeting, saying that when he visited with them