Eighteen months ago the then Democrat controlled Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act. Since then, using funds allocated by that legislation the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) declared open season on wealthy tax cheats and so far has recovered over $480 million in overdue taxes from delinquent millionaires. Last month the IRS opened 76 new examinations into the largest partnerships in the U.S. that include hedge funds, real estate investment partnerships and large law firms.
More than 160 million Americans voluntarily pay their federal income taxes every year and generally pay what they owe. The right leaning Wall Street Journal reported that “Americans didn't pay an estimated $68 billion in taxes due on their 2021 returns—the largest shortfall ever.” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) organized an investigation which found that nearly 1,000 Americans who make more than $1 million a year failed to file tax returns over multiple recent years, potentially owing $34 billion in taxes.
According to a 2021 White House study, the wealthiest 400 billionaire families in the US paid an average federal individual tax rate of just 8.2 percent. If you’re reading this article you likely paid around 10% of your total income in federal taxes. The really wealthy pay a lower percentage of taxes than you and I do and yet still cheat on their taxes.
During last year’s debt ceiling negotiations between the Biden administration and the now Republican controlled House; Monica de la Cruz, Chip Roy, and their cronies held the paychecks of millions of Americans hostage. In order to avoid damage to individuals and the national economy that a government shut down would cause, President Biden accepted budget reductions that include taking back billions of dollars allocated to the IRS. Those cuts will affect the ability of the IRS to continue pursuing wealthy tax cheats and modernization that was intended to reduce wait times and improve the experience tax payers have when calling the IRS for answers to questions about their incomes taxes.
The fact that supposedly budget conscious Republicans chose to target the IRS for major funding reductions when all indications are that for every $1 spent the agency will bring in an extra $2 goes to show you it isn’t really about the budget. The Republican attack on the IRS is all about protecting the wealthy tax cheats that provide campaign cash, high paying jobs for family members, and free vacations in posh resorts.
None of the billions in overdue taxes include the taxes evaded through tax shelters like owning professional sports teams or race horses, or other income re-classification tricks the super-wealthy use to game the system.
When Trump was in the White House an American earning less than $50,000 a year was more likely to be audited than someone earning $1 million a year and the percentage of mega-corporations earning billions hit an all time low. No wonder the super-wealthy want Trump back in the White House. How anyone earning less than $1 million a year can vote Republican is beyond me.
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