Trump IRS pick faces massive IT challenge

Charles Rettig, the Trump administration's pick to lead the IRS, told lawmakers at his June 28 confirmation hearing that the tax agency's legacy tech is one of its most critical challenges.

If confirmed, Rettig, a tax attorney, will face the same daunting task that his predecessors and Congress have largely failed to address for decades: dragging the agency’s IT software and hardware out of the punchcard age.

"The modernization of the IRS IT system and bringing the IRS IT system into the 21st century is one of my top goals," said Rettig. "It serves two purposes: it serves not only the protection of taxpayer data … but also modernization serves to enhance services that taxpayers in this country deserve."