Senate DOGE Caucus chair wants improved tech from IRS to help those starting a business

Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst has asked Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent for the IRS to improve its technology so that people starting a business can apply for an employer identification number (EIN) all day every day.

The senator, who chairs the Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, made the request on Tuesday in a letter to the Treasury Secretary that also asked the IRS to "eliminate the duplicative auditing of all taxpayers and entities" and "hold all federal employees, especially IRS employees, to the same personal tax compliance standards as the Americans they audit." 

In the letter, Ernst noted the EIN online application tool was currently only available on weekdays during specific hours. The IRS lists the hours for the tool as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern on Monday through Friday on its website. 

Business owners need EINs to hire employees, get business bank accounts and do other important business functions, according to the Small Business Administration. 

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"How can it be that in 2025, with so much money spent on IT, an online tool is not available 24/7?" Ernst wrote in her letter, criticizing the IRS’s technology as "antiquated" and "bad." 

She asked Bessent to "please review the EIN online application tool and make it available to the public at all times." 

"Despite spending billions of dollars on IT, the IRS is failing to adequately meet the needs of business owners," Ernst said in a statement to FOX Business. "It should come as no surprise that the IRS is America’s least favorite agency. As I work with DOGE to make government more efficient, by making the EIN application portal available 24/7, the IRS will better serve the business owners who do not have the luxury of operating within the conventional work hours of D.C. bureaucrats."

The IRS said on its website that the online application tool was the "preferred method for customers to apply for and obtain an EIN." When applying through it, business owners receive an EIN "immediately" after their application has been submitted and the provided required information validated, according to the agency.

People can also apply for an EIN with the IRS through other methods like mail, phone and fax. Getting an EIN via mailed application takes roughly 4 weeks, the IRS said. 

Karla Dennis, the CEO and founder of tax strategy firm KDA, Inc, told FOX Business the EIN online application tool being available 24 hours a day, seven days a week "would make it much easier for people to start a business at any time, even outside regular business hours."

"Entrepreneurs wouldn’t have to wait until the IRS offices are open. They could apply for an EIN whenever it’s convenient for them," she explained. "This flexibility could speed up the process of officially starting a business, help people avoid delays and get their business up and running more quickly. Entrepreneurs don’t have set hours and being able to access tools 24/7 falls in alignment with how business operate."

"Having the IRS make the EIN online application available 24/7 is a great benefit, it allows access to all business owners. There is no reason for limited hours, overall it would increase and empower the small business owner," Mark J. Kohler, a CPA and tax lawyer, also told FOX Business. "So many companies overcharge for an EIN letter when the small business can do it themselves or with a smaller affordable law firm. Also, a lot of people work during the week so having availability on the weekends too is advantageous."

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Dennis said it would "likely" be feasible for the IRS to offer the tool at all hours of the day.

"The online tool is already automated, and as long as the IRS ensures the system is secure, it can run smoothly at all hours," Dennis said. "It would just require some technical updates and maintenance to make sure it’s always up and running without issues." 

Ernst said in her letter to Bessent that the IRS "has been using antiquated systems while spending on IT has lacked common sense" for years.

The IRS, which falls under the Treasury Department, and a slew of other agencies are under the microscope from President Donald Trump’s DOGE as the Elon Musk-led initiative looks to significantly pare back wasteful spending and boost efficiency across the federal government. 

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DOGE representative and Levels CEO Sam Corcas told "The Ingraham Angle" host Laura Ingraham last week that he had been brought in by DOGE to "look at the IRS modernization program in particular, as well as the operations and maintenance budget." 

He said the federal tax agency "has some pretty legacy infrastructure" and claimed the IRS’s "huge" modernization program was 30 years behind schedule and "already $15 billion over budget."