The Virginia Tax Review has published Vol. 45, No. 2 (Fall 2025):
Kristin E. Hickman (Minnesota) & Bridget C.E. Dooling (Ohio State), Delay, Politics, and Expertise in OIRA Tax Review, 45 Va. Tax Rev. 125 (2025):
The opening months of the second Trump administration have featured a wide range of changes to federal policy accomplished through presidential executive orders. Among those changes, a lesser-known shift is the reinstatement of centralized review of tax regulations by the Office of Information of Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
For many years, most tax regulations were exempt from OIRA review. That changed in the first Trump administration when the Treasury Department (Treasury) and OIRA signed a memorandum of agreement bringing more tax regulations within OIRA’s oversight sphere. In the Biden administration, Treasury and OIRA reversed course, this time clearly and unequivocally exempting all tax regulations without exception. Now the script has flipped again, as a new Trump executive order has reinstated OIRA review of tax regulations.
OIRA review of tax regulations is controversial, with critics complaining of long delays in the publication of important regulatory guidance and increased political meddling in decisions that ought to be made by tax experts. This article documents the first and only effort to study OIRA review of tax regulations comprehensively and empirically by analyzing the preambles of every notice of proposed rulemaking and Treasury Decision proposing or adopting temporary and final tax regulations published from 2016 through June 2023—434 documents in all, across three presidential administrations. From the data we conclude that complaints that OIRA review leads to lengthy delays and systematic politicization of tax policy are generally overblown. We additionally offer preliminary findings regarding OIRA’s contributions to transparency, and potentially to regulation quality. These findings shed light on the debate about OIRA review of tax regulations and potentially foreshadow implications of extending OIRA review to independent regulatory agencies as well.)
Orly Mazur (SMU), Modernizing the IRS in the Age of AI, 45 Va. Tax Rev. 182 (2025):
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers powerful tools for modernizing tax administration, from automating audits and improving fraud detection to enhancing taxpayer services. But if deployed prematurely, AI risks entrenching the very flaws it aims to fix. The Internal Revenue Service remains burdened by outdated infrastructure, fragmented data systems, limited transparency, and enforcement disparities. Without foundational reform, AI will not increase efficiency or equity. Instead, it will amplify structural shortcomings and obscure accountability. This article argues that the Internal Revenue Service cannot responsibly adopt AI without first addressing its systemic weaknesses in governance, data infrastructure, and legal oversight. Drawing on lessons from prior modernization failures, this article demonstrates that piecemeal upgrades and underfunded initiatives have repeatedly stalled progress. It further contends that recent efforts to defund the Internal Revenue Service threaten to sabotage the very reforms necessary to support responsible, effective automation.
Thus, rather than viewing AI as a shortcut to reform, this article makes the case for a deliberate, sequenced approach: modernization first, AI second. Through institutional restructuring, sustained investment, and the development of transparent and accountable data practices, the Internal Revenue Service can build the foundation needed for AI to serve, not subvert, fair, effective, and efficient tax administration. Ultimately, the future of AI in tax administration depends not on how fast it is adopted, but on how responsibly it is implemented.
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