It announced Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service will hire almost 30,000 employees and implement new technology in the next two-years as part of its $80 billion investment plan to improve customer service and tax enforcement.

In its long-awaited Strategic Operating Plan the tax agency stated that it will require $8.64 billion in new funding for the 2023-2024 fiscal years. Enforcement staff will make up 8,782 of those new hires.

Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Treasury Secretary, stated that the IRS will hire more data scientists than ever before for enforcement purposes. He also said that they would be complementing more traditional tax lawyers and revenue agents by using new data analytics technology in identifying audit targets.

After hiring 5,000 additional taxpayer service staff in the last months, the IRS will continue to increase customer service. They will answer phones, reopen taxpayer aid centers, and process tax returns.

According to the 148-page plan, the total number of customer service employees will be 13,883 over the two-year period.

A significant number of these new hires will replace nearly 12,000 IRS employees who are expected to retire in the next two-years — including over 4,700 enforcement personnel, according to a Treasury official.

The $80 billion in new funding from last year’s climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act is aimed at rebuilding the agency’s audit capabilities and 1960s-era computer technology after a decade of funding cuts mostly by Republican-controlled Congresses.

It also aims at closing the tax gap between taxes owed & those paid. Treasury estimates that it is $600 billion per year. New audits will be focusing on the most wealthy Americans.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the new funding will generate approximately $204 billion in revenue over the next decade. This is the same amount that was used to pay for Inflation Reduction Act investments.

Over the past decade, estimates by the Treasury have reached $400 billion. Higher collections were made beyond the 10-year budget window.

Danny Werfel, the new IRS Commissioner, told reporters that the agency would soon release spending and hiring plans for the 2025 fiscal years and would continue to update its operating plan.

He said that the agency’s ability use new technology to automate many functions will help determine future staffing requirements.