The IRS by the numbers

* The IRS collects $1.5 trillion in taxes each year.

* There are 102,000 IRS employees. The IRS' annual budget is $7.8 billion.

* The IRS has 200 computer systems. They will be gradually replaced

by a single database system.

* IRS modernization is expected to take 10 to 15 years.

* The entire modernization project will involve more than 50 million

lines of computer code.

* Taxpayer records are stored in an obsolete tape-based system. The

system stores 2.5 million terabytes of data, enough to fill a library of

2.5 million books.

Sources: The IRS and the Los Angeles Times