Congressman: ‘If You Love This Country, One of the Things You Do Is Pay Your Fair Share’
The federal government loses about $600 billion that it's owed, due to tax cheats
While Republicans are painting a nefarious picture over the recent boost in funding for the IRS, the truth is that it will help audit wealthy corporations and even provide better service for average Americans, according to the Democratic congressman who chairs the House committee that funds the tax agency.
Republicans and others on the political right have been unloading on the IRS since President Biden last week signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which gives the agency a big, $80-billion budget boost.
Republicans have been claiming — baselessly — that that increase would hire an astounding 87,000 new IRS agents to somehow harass the American people.
Rather, the increase will help the agency have the resources to collect for the federal government the roughly $600 billion annually it loses, according to one estimate, due to — largely very wealthy and corporate — taxpayers cheating on what they owe.
“The Republicans cut funding to the IRS from 2010 to 2018, we lost about 22 percent of our staff. A lot of that is just answering questions lower middle class and American classes have about taxes,” said Rep Mike Quigley (D-Ill). “More important, about 40 percent reduction took place in those IRS people who did the more serious, complicated audits. So that meant 75 percent reduction in that time on the wealthiest Americans, on 50 percent reductions and audits on the wealthiest corporations. The facts are just the opposite of what they’re saying.
“This will allow the IRS to audit the wealthiest corporations in Americans. And these aren’t patriots, but they are often tax cheats, who create about two-thirds of a trillion dollars a year in a tax gap. And if you love this country, one of the things you do is pay your fair share. Instead of being a criminal who cheat on your taxes, and if you want to increase military spending, reduce the tax gap,” Quigley added.
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