When tech entrepreneur Sam Corcos, CEO of Levels and software veteran, accepted a short-term post inside the U.S. Treasury, he wasn't expecting to find himself untangling a decades-old digital disaster. But that’s exactly what he stepped into: the IRS’s long-failed modernization program—a 35-year, $15 billion project that remains perpetually “five years away.”

In a recent exclusive interview, Corcos laid out what he's discovered since joining the Doge initiative—Elon Musk’s controversial, efficiency-driven push into federal bureaucracy. His findings are staggering, not just in cost, but in culture.

A System Stuck in Time

The IRS is still relying on legacy mainframes running COBOL and Assembly—technology older than many of the agency’s newer hires. Corcos compared the IRS’s data needs to that of a midsize bank. A bank with similar infrastructure would typically have 100–200 IT staff and a maintenance budget of $20 million. The IRS?

That budget doesn’t even include the IRS's $3.7 billion IT modernization effort—separate from maintenance. Combined, the agency is burning more than $7 billion a year just to keep its technology operational and inch it forward.

Consultants: The $50 Million Question

Corcos noted a pervasive reliance on third-party contractors and consulting firms, who have wrapped themselves around the IRS like a "boa constrictor." In one example, Corcos found $50 million contracts that no one could justify.

This kind of inertia and lack of accountability has plagued the IRS’s transformation for decades. Meanwhile, American taxpayers are footing the bill for systems that are neither modern nor efficient.

Software Talent Is Not the Problem

Perhaps the most surprising revelation? The IRS actually has strong internal software talent. Developers on the ground often have the right solutions in mind—but they lack the authority to execute them.

Corcos is optimistic about the ability to fix the system—not because of new tech, but because of untapped potential within the IRS’s own workforce.

Culture of Complacency

Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, also new to government, put it bluntly:

The theme repeated throughout their discussion: systemic stagnation, not technical complexity, is the true blocker of reform.

Cutting Through the Noise

Despite the media’s portrayal of the Doge initiative as a Silicon Valley wrecking crew, Corcos has faced little internal resistance. In fact, his team has already halted or redirected $1.5 billion in modernization efforts that were steering the IRS deeper into a “death spiral of complexity.”

And contrary to the narrative of a hostile takeover:

A Six-Month Mission

Corcos is committed to staying in Washington for six months. He never intended to join the federal government, especially with a 15-month-old child and a thriving startup to run. But when peers in the administration described the scale of the problem, he couldn’t ignore the call.

Conclusion: The Real Work Begins

The Doge initiative may be polarizing, but the problems it seeks to address are very real. Corcos’s deep dive into the IRS reveals a bloated, outdated, and mismanaged infrastructure that’s been allowed to drift for decades. What it needs now isn't just new code—but leadership, accountability, and a clear mission.

Whether six months is enough to start that turnaround remains to be seen. But if nothing else, Sam Corcos is proving that it is possible to care, question, and act inside a system that has long accepted dysfunction as the norm.