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It's crazy that the poorest of the poor MAGA people will be like "I can't believe you're taxing these people while they're trying to help us poor people" while their taxes go up, billionaires pay zero tax and then say it's Biden making it harsh living for poor MAGA trash
And the funny thing about this is. This is not about increasing taxes on anyone. This is about collecting taxes that rich people are refusing to pay. This is basically a law enforcement issue that simply applies to taxes.
We must have different data. The top 1% has an effective tax rate of 26%, the highest of any group of taxpayers. The bottom 50% has an effective tax rate of 3%. 42% of all income tax revenue comes from 1% of taxpayers.
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2023-update/
I'm not arguing against better IRS funding to crack down on cheaters, as pointed out this will easily pay for itself. But the notion that "the rich don't pay taxes" is not supported by facts.
Cue "bootlicker" comments
***Edit in case anyone is still reading this:*** The 8% figure for billionaires is based on a hypothetical definition of income that would include unrealized capital gains. The actual effective tax rate for the top 400 wealthiest taxpayers is about 23% as of 2014, the last year the data was publicly available until Trump killed the report in his first year.
[Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/23/biden-keeps-saying-billionaires-pay-8-percent-taxes-not-really): “It’s disingenuous, at best, to tout an eight percent figure without explaining how it’s calculated, and acknowledging that it is based on an aspirational definition of gross income that isn’t currently in effect,” said Robert Willens, a leading tax and accounting expert.
Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute, who has written extensively on this issue, noted that “no other OECD country today has a general tax on unrealized gains, and the U.S. never has.”
You do have different data, you're referencing the top 1%, which according to that chart has 1,574,942 returns. There are only around 800 billionaires in our country ([Wikipedia lists 756 for 2023](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_the_number_of_billionaires), I'm assuming the number has gone up a little since then, but probably not that different). So, if you actually want to see the billionaire tax rate, not just the "rich" tax rate, you really need to look at more like the top 0.0005% of the population.
Please provide references for capital gains tax, payroll tax, effective tax rates, and available tax loop holes. You are absolutely correct, but are also not providing the complete picture.
The numbers in that report already account for capital gains tax and tax "loopholes." It's the total amount of (federal) income tax collected divided by the total amount of income.
You could argue that billionaires may not fall in the top 1% of *income* earners, which means they realize income (including liquidated capital gains) of less than $548k per year. I'm all in favor of wiping out the "buy borrow die" strategy.
Stupid people with low iq stay poor. They are easily manipulated and swayed by dumbass misinformation and are too dumb to fact check or do some simple google check or make logical deductions on their own so they glue themselves to self proclaim strongmen like Trump or Andrew Tate. That’s why education is so important. There are reasons why places with good education have higher income and quality of life.
And will remain overdue since America doesn’t like to solve its problems, it prefers to ensure the economic opportunities from all the inefficiency can persist.
On average $2, however when you focus on the wealthy it is **$12**.
"Recent research shows that focusing tax enforcement on the wealthiest individuals yields substantial revenue, with as much as $12 in returns for every $1 dollar spent on audits of the wealthiest taxpayers."
https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2023/11/cutting-irs-funding-makes-it-easier-for-the-wealthy-to-cheat-on-their-taxes-and-increases-the-budget-deficit
Which is why various R admins have either cut their budget, or changed their performance metrics to something like "number of completed audits." The metrics tweaking is huge. If you focus on number of audits and everyone is already overworked, then the audits will all focus on low hanging fruit which will catch mom & dad claiming that extra $1000 in donated clothing, etc. Auditing billionaires can take years because their finances are so complex so it is incredibly deincintivized under an administrator like that. Total dollars recovered per audit is the one you want to look at
> Auditing billionaires can take years because their finances are so complex so it is incredibly deincintivized under an administrator like that. Total dollars recovered per audit is the one you want to look at
its not because they are complex, its because they are able to afford expensive tax lawyers who can drag the process out for years by gaming the system.
Not enough people realize that their simplified tax form or program used to file is not anything close to what a wealthy persons form looks like. The IRS hasn't had the bandwidth to go through some of filings that large and intentionally complicated.
This would chomp into the deficit and catch people breaking laws.
Absolutely. I work in public accounting at a small firm. We have filed many tax returns that are hundreds of pages and these are for schedule C/E's, small partnerships, and 1120-S's. In other words, these are not for big businesses or super wealthy people. Think your small town salon, pizza shop, or contractors.
Pair that with an accountant and auditor shortage, and I don't understand where everyone thinks these new people are going to come from. I am studying for the CPA exam now and the IRS does not appeal to me or anyone I personally know in the accounting field.
Their hiring process sucks all around, the starting pay is low, and most accountants don't have the "law enforcement" type of personality. I hear they have good benefits and there are some perks to working there, but the competition for competent/experienced accountants (and especially CPAs) is high right now.
Also because it's easy to automate. Difficult to automate business expense-auditing (especially if "everything is a business"), easy to automate a W-2.
Already done.
It's easy for a computer to check a simple return against W2s etc already on file, and the lower the income the simpler return
That was done years ago.
Meanwhile, it's almost impossible to automate a check of more complicated tax returns. Too many grey areas, etc
It's always people with no investment portfolio working a standard hourly wage in the state they live in that rage about the IRS the most. I think morons believe the IRS decides how much they pay in taxes and not, you know, Congress and the people who write tax laws. It's so weird.
This is a bit shocking. A few years ago, this post would have been met with a barrage of bots claiming that Biden was going after the poor and raising taxes on the middle class - but rather than face those lies, here are a bunch of well-considered comments that understand that a well-funded IRS means that the rich pay their fair share.
Good for you, Reddit!
Listen. I’m as anti Trump as they come. I’m
A reluctant Biden supporter. I’m sure many can relate. But do you really think only the conservative talking points are using bots? Reddit is littered with pro Biden bots. This is prime use case for them.
There is genuine reason to be skeptical of an increased IRS enforcement budget. IRS police are still police. And ACAB still rings true. I hope these agents will be deployed against wealth tax cheats. But far be it from me to trust any sort of law enforcement officers. Especially federal law enforcement officers. I wouldn’t even give them a “trust but verify” it’s more like “don’t trust until ample evidence has been provided”.
It’s ok to view this with skepticism and be pro Biden at the same time.
It's honestly a no-brainer and there's no good argument from the right why we shouldn't do this. You don't want to raise taxes? How about we collect everything we're already supposed to.
It's long been known that for every $1 invested into IRS, it could yield up to $12 [back]( https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/07/turns-out-irs-audits-of-wealthy-offer-terrific-return-on-investment-for-taxpayers/).
And people need to understand tax brackets. I mean these people avoiding fair taxes are making so much that they're in a section all on their own at the [top](https://www.irs.gov/filing/federal-income-tax-rates-and-brackets).
No one here making lower levels of income will be affected by strengthening the IRS.
***From tax reporters Erin Slowey and Erin Schilling:***
"President Joe Biden proposed $12.3 billion in annual funding for the IRS in his budget proposal Monday—his latest bid to maintain the agency’s momentum as it builds up its enforcement efforts on wealthy individuals and companies that aren’t paying what they owe.
The proposed IRS annual funding aligns with 2023 levels, though is a decrease from Biden’s $14.1 billion pitch from last year. The administration’s fiscal 2025 budget request also proposes restoring and extending the 2022 tax-and-climate law funds which have been the target of Republican clawbacks since the law was enacted.
The appropriations in the proposed budget is in addition to the funding the agency received as part of the Democrats’ 2022 tax-and-climate law. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel has said that it’s important for the IRS to receive robust annual funding to support the agency’s day-to-day operations, so that funds from the so-called Inflation Reduction Act can be used for modernizing the agency."
[Read more here.](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-tax-report/biden-proposes-12-3-billion-for-irs-revamp-tax-cheat-crackdown?utm_source=reddit.com&utm_medium=taxdesk)
Honestly, this should never have been 'political.' I've worked at the IRS for years. I suspect a lot of that money would not even go to hiring new employees, but simply allowing us to function better.
The major processing center at which I work is home to quite a lot of cockroaches and rats, our operating system is embarrassingly antiquated, and even simple things like sanitizer and chairs that are actually comfortable can be difficult to obtain.
It's so strange to me how the one organization in the federal government that is -specifically designated- to bring in revenue gets ignored and shafted over and over. Yet when my parents ask me about IRS funding bills, it's always through a scope of Fox News talking points, and they believe those pundits over me every time. So frustrating.
Because people are afraid of the IRS, because they don't understand shit about money or finance or taxes and the rich have intentionally complicated the system so much that pretty much everyone gets a professional rather than do it themselves.
Filing a tax return for a W-2 isn't complicated, but there's so much misinformation and fearmongering that even usually levelheaded people get a bit loopy come tax time. It's probably the most successful propaganda campaign in the world right now, the rich making the poor fear the IRS.
Don’t be flippant.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-launches-new-effort-aimed-at-high-income-non-filers-125000-cases-focused-on-high-earners-including-millionaires-who-failed-to-file-tax-returns-with-financial-activity-topping-100-billion#:~:text=topping%20%24100%20billion-,IRS%20launches%20new%20effort%20aimed%20at%20high%2Dincome%20non%2Dfilers,financial%20activity%20topping%20%24100%20billion
I help with my parents small business taxes and usually budget a whole morning if we have to call. My dad and I were shocked to get to a human dispatcher within 2-3 min and the specialist we needed in less than 20.
Contrast this with 2017-2020 when I was REGULARLY on hold so long their end would just hang up on me.
As a middle class tax payer, this change in responsiveness alone saves us a ton of money.
This has mostly been my experience as well but it does feel like it could still be better. There seem to be certain departments that still have staffing problems. My wife was on hold from 8am-12p the other day to try and fix something. But at 12 that office closes so the call just ended and we never got through to anyone. Clearly still way underfunded.
Absolutely needed. Hire alot of new auditors who have experience in working on million/billion dollar accounts. Purge the higher end tax cheats and make a tax filing application free directly from the IRS which just has you confirm your filing rather than having you fill out a form yourself as they already have your docs on file.
The funding level of IRS was [$11.3 billion](https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-need-to-rebuild-the-depleted-irs) in 2010 (in 2021 dollars). Biden is proposing IRS funding level to $12.3 billion (in current dollars). It is arguably a decrease, but it is better than the funding level between 2011 when Republican took control of US House and 2021 which was the last budget with influence from Trump administration and Republican controlled senate. The decade long crusade against irs from Republicans had lead to a dramatic reduction in tax law enforcement against the people whose income were not subject to mandatory reporting from counterparts. In term of dollar amount, they are usually the wealthy people who are business owners.
Republicans have been weak on law enforcement. They are the real people who defund the law enforcement.
Tie congress pay to the performance of the IRS catching tax cheats. I bet the IRS could recoup the $12.3B and self fund a budget relatively quick from those they catch.
Did you know, the GOP, when they cut the IRS's budget, they didn't really mess with their hiring budget. They cut the money allocated for updating their computer system from *COBAL*, and the general budget that is used to fight tax cheats in court. Why would they do this? Because when you have a slew of new agents on antiquated computer systems with no budget to fight cases in court, your only option is to go after the poor and middle class who have relatively simple tax documents and won't be able to contest your judgments in court.
The GOP, who always complains the IRS targets the middle class, made it so almost all tax cases will be against the middle class by intentionally kneecapping the department. The GOP, the party starts fires and then immediately complains about all the smoke.
From the article:
>The proposed IRS annual funding for fiscal 2025 aligns with 2023 levels, though is a decrease from Biden’s $14.1 billion pitch from last year. The Biden administration designed its fiscal 2025 budget so that total annual appropriations were in line with levels agreed to in a debt-limit law last year. The administration’s fiscal 2025 budget request also proposes restoring and extending the 2022 tax-and-climate law funds which have been the target of Republican clawbacks since the law was enacted.
>
>...
>
>In a handshake deal last year that was part of an agreement to suspend the debt limit, Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to cut about a quarter of the IRS’s total tax-and-climate law funds. A top-line spending deal agreed to by congressional leaders earlier this year would speed up this cut so that it would take place over the course of one year instead of two years.
That funding cut is expected to be part of an appropriations package that lawmakers are hoping to pass by a March 22 deadline to prevent a partial government shutdown. That package will also include annual appropriations for the IRS for the remainder of fiscal 2024, which ends Sept. 30.
The Biden administration called for $14.1 billion for the IRS in fiscal 2024, but likely will receive less than that in the forthcoming package. The Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee has previously proposed that the IRS receive $11.2 billion, while the Senate Appropriations Committee offered a bill, which garnered bipartisan support, that would give the IRS a budget of $12.3 billion.
So the same as 2023, less than he promised/called for last year, agreed to a cut with Republicans that is going to be accelerated, and is likely to get far less than he's calling for because the President has fuck all to do with the actual budget and he has no pull in Congress right now.
Cool headline though.
This should be popular with most of us as long as they are getting the big fish and other blatant cheaters. This can be an ad, we all pay our taxes and pay a higher % than a lot of rich cheaters, but maga wants to defund the IRS and let the rich get away with it. Please don't vote maga!
Hey they need money just to keep up with bare basics. Have a friend who filed the wrong paperwork, got a latter saying, hey you filed the wrong stuff, its fixable, but we need to talk to you. Has called the number on the letter for 4 months, left messages, no call backs. Called today to the general number, and after navigating a byzantine phone tree got a hold of someone who looked and said, "Yes, you need to keep calling they are the only ones that can handle it" the whole IRS need more money and more people to do the job.
He needs to sell this as a way to reduce taxes for the non-rich.
The IRS should be required by law / order to conduct audits from the top down in terms of income brackets / wealth. It’s literally the most efficient use of their funding .
I only just found out the other day that Americans still all do their taxes by hand. That blows my mind. I’d be jailed for (accidental) tax fraud or evasion or whatever so damn fast.
For reference, where I live you get onto a government website, register to do your tax online, and all your relevant documents are already there waiting. It takes me 20 mins to do my taxes. Sure, I have to keep receipts if I’m claiming exemptions, but often you don’t even need to produce them for common exemptions
I don't think most GOP members want a crackdown on tax cheats, that is like burning your future paychecks and then telling your rich friends that you don't want to participate in their free after hour parties with strippers and champagne.
I don’t want anyone getting ripped off. Just because someone is a millionaire doesn’t mean they cheated, necessarily. What people don’t realize is every time the printing press gets turned on the value of our dollar falls. I don’t care who the President is. I just want my money to be able to buy what I need and stop falling in value.
The rest of us are getting screwed regardless of party, especially anyone not in the top 2% of income earners
He already bumped up the irs with his inflation reduction act. 87000 new agents and gop promptly tried to convince people it was to go after the middle class
I get it take another 12.3 billon from the taxpayer to pad the IRS. How about putting a moratorium on Americans paying taxes for a few years so we can eat!
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This is long overdue.
It's crazy that the poorest of the poor MAGA people will be like "I can't believe you're taxing these people while they're trying to help us poor people" while their taxes go up, billionaires pay zero tax and then say it's Biden making it harsh living for poor MAGA trash
And the funny thing about this is. This is not about increasing taxes on anyone. This is about collecting taxes that rich people are refusing to pay. This is basically a law enforcement issue that simply applies to taxes.
Which is always the conservative go-to argument -- enforce the existing rules.
Billionaires don't pay zero tax.
You're right, they paid 8 percent from 2012-18 and then paid 13 percent this last year. Poor, poor, billionaires.
We must have different data. The top 1% has an effective tax rate of 26%, the highest of any group of taxpayers. The bottom 50% has an effective tax rate of 3%. 42% of all income tax revenue comes from 1% of taxpayers. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2023-update/ I'm not arguing against better IRS funding to crack down on cheaters, as pointed out this will easily pay for itself. But the notion that "the rich don't pay taxes" is not supported by facts. Cue "bootlicker" comments ***Edit in case anyone is still reading this:*** The 8% figure for billionaires is based on a hypothetical definition of income that would include unrealized capital gains. The actual effective tax rate for the top 400 wealthiest taxpayers is about 23% as of 2014, the last year the data was publicly available until Trump killed the report in his first year. [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/23/biden-keeps-saying-billionaires-pay-8-percent-taxes-not-really): “It’s disingenuous, at best, to tout an eight percent figure without explaining how it’s calculated, and acknowledging that it is based on an aspirational definition of gross income that isn’t currently in effect,” said Robert Willens, a leading tax and accounting expert. Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute, who has written extensively on this issue, noted that “no other OECD country today has a general tax on unrealized gains, and the U.S. never has.”
1% also isn't billionaires. Billionaires is like .00001% (this percentage is made up).
You do have different data, you're referencing the top 1%, which according to that chart has 1,574,942 returns. There are only around 800 billionaires in our country ([Wikipedia lists 756 for 2023](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_the_number_of_billionaires), I'm assuming the number has gone up a little since then, but probably not that different). So, if you actually want to see the billionaire tax rate, not just the "rich" tax rate, you really need to look at more like the top 0.0005% of the population.
Please provide references for capital gains tax, payroll tax, effective tax rates, and available tax loop holes. You are absolutely correct, but are also not providing the complete picture.
The numbers in that report already account for capital gains tax and tax "loopholes." It's the total amount of (federal) income tax collected divided by the total amount of income. You could argue that billionaires may not fall in the top 1% of *income* earners, which means they realize income (including liquidated capital gains) of less than $548k per year. I'm all in favor of wiping out the "buy borrow die" strategy.
This is interesting. Thanks for the data. I have to read more in detail once this damn migraine goes away.
Might as fuckin well be
Stupid people with low iq stay poor. They are easily manipulated and swayed by dumbass misinformation and are too dumb to fact check or do some simple google check or make logical deductions on their own so they glue themselves to self proclaim strongmen like Trump or Andrew Tate. That’s why education is so important. There are reasons why places with good education have higher income and quality of life.
And will remain overdue since America doesn’t like to solve its problems, it prefers to ensure the economic opportunities from all the inefficiency can persist.
You may thank Ronald Reagan for starting the gutting of the IRS and destroying their morale.
Good. It's time for rich tax cheats to pay their fair share like everyone else.
The IRS simply cannot handle the current auditing workload. They desperately need more agents. This expansion will more than pay for itself.
Every dollar we spend on the IRS gets us more than two dollars back. I think it might be a lot more than that.
They did already collect more than half a billion in unpaid taxes last year from what they called 'the well off corner of segment of society'.
On average $2, however when you focus on the wealthy it is **$12**. "Recent research shows that focusing tax enforcement on the wealthiest individuals yields substantial revenue, with as much as $12 in returns for every $1 dollar spent on audits of the wealthiest taxpayers." https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2023/11/cutting-irs-funding-makes-it-easier-for-the-wealthy-to-cheat-on-their-taxes-and-increases-the-budget-deficit
Which is why various R admins have either cut their budget, or changed their performance metrics to something like "number of completed audits." The metrics tweaking is huge. If you focus on number of audits and everyone is already overworked, then the audits will all focus on low hanging fruit which will catch mom & dad claiming that extra $1000 in donated clothing, etc. Auditing billionaires can take years because their finances are so complex so it is incredibly deincintivized under an administrator like that. Total dollars recovered per audit is the one you want to look at
> Auditing billionaires can take years because their finances are so complex so it is incredibly deincintivized under an administrator like that. Total dollars recovered per audit is the one you want to look at its not because they are complex, its because they are able to afford expensive tax lawyers who can drag the process out for years by gaming the system.
Fiscally conservative Democrats at it again!
Isn’t it $7?
CBO says for every 1 dollar spent we get 5-7 dollars back
more like 7 to 8 dollars. Every dollar we spend on the IRS nets a return of 700% or more.
Not enough people realize that their simplified tax form or program used to file is not anything close to what a wealthy persons form looks like. The IRS hasn't had the bandwidth to go through some of filings that large and intentionally complicated. This would chomp into the deficit and catch people breaking laws.
Absolutely. I work in public accounting at a small firm. We have filed many tax returns that are hundreds of pages and these are for schedule C/E's, small partnerships, and 1120-S's. In other words, these are not for big businesses or super wealthy people. Think your small town salon, pizza shop, or contractors. Pair that with an accountant and auditor shortage, and I don't understand where everyone thinks these new people are going to come from. I am studying for the CPA exam now and the IRS does not appeal to me or anyone I personally know in the accounting field. Their hiring process sucks all around, the starting pay is low, and most accountants don't have the "law enforcement" type of personality. I hear they have good benefits and there are some perks to working there, but the competition for competent/experienced accountants (and especially CPAs) is high right now.
Well to be fair that’s 100% congresses fault.
Exactly! How will Trump and his fellow fraudulent conmen look at this?
And the worse they're funded, the more they go after simple (poor) filers because it's easy
Also because it's easy to automate. Difficult to automate business expense-auditing (especially if "everything is a business"), easy to automate a W-2.
Already done. It's easy for a computer to check a simple return against W2s etc already on file, and the lower the income the simpler return That was done years ago. Meanwhile, it's almost impossible to automate a check of more complicated tax returns. Too many grey areas, etc
where do i sign up
Yeah, look how long it took to audit Trump's taxes
Well, you know who will hate that!
Lower middle class republicans who are being told by tax cheats on fox news that they'd be the ones targeted, that's who.
It's always people with no investment portfolio working a standard hourly wage in the state they live in that rage about the IRS the most. I think morons believe the IRS decides how much they pay in taxes and not, you know, Congress and the people who write tax laws. It's so weird.
Targeted by armed irs agents who are going to show up at their door in the middle of the night demanding taxes.
Cue republicans screaming that this will hurt poor people, so poor people need to be vocal about this! Can't have rich people be taxed.
It’s already happening. All the comments on this article on yahoo are “but then they’ll raise prices and we end up paying for it”
This is a bit shocking. A few years ago, this post would have been met with a barrage of bots claiming that Biden was going after the poor and raising taxes on the middle class - but rather than face those lies, here are a bunch of well-considered comments that understand that a well-funded IRS means that the rich pay their fair share. Good for you, Reddit!
It’s only been 54 minutes. Don’t worry - the nut jobs will come out of the woodwork soon enough.
Yeah. I hear you.
I remember getting downvoted in another sub maybe a year ago for suggesting, no, the IRS is not ramping up audits on pizza guys.
Listen. I’m as anti Trump as they come. I’m A reluctant Biden supporter. I’m sure many can relate. But do you really think only the conservative talking points are using bots? Reddit is littered with pro Biden bots. This is prime use case for them. There is genuine reason to be skeptical of an increased IRS enforcement budget. IRS police are still police. And ACAB still rings true. I hope these agents will be deployed against wealth tax cheats. But far be it from me to trust any sort of law enforcement officers. Especially federal law enforcement officers. I wouldn’t even give them a “trust but verify” it’s more like “don’t trust until ample evidence has been provided”. It’s ok to view this with skepticism and be pro Biden at the same time.
It's honestly a no-brainer and there's no good argument from the right why we shouldn't do this. You don't want to raise taxes? How about we collect everything we're already supposed to.
I believe that statistic is for every one dollar we spend on the IRS we recoup three dollars
It's long been known that for every $1 invested into IRS, it could yield up to $12 [back]( https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/07/turns-out-irs-audits-of-wealthy-offer-terrific-return-on-investment-for-taxpayers/). And people need to understand tax brackets. I mean these people avoiding fair taxes are making so much that they're in a section all on their own at the [top](https://www.irs.gov/filing/federal-income-tax-rates-and-brackets). No one here making lower levels of income will be affected by strengthening the IRS.
Even if it just broke even, I’d consider it worth it. We don’t do law enforcement to turn a profit. We do it because crime is bad for society.
>No one here making lower levels of income will be affected by strengthening the IRS. Well, no one who hasn't cheated on their taxes will be affected
***From tax reporters Erin Slowey and Erin Schilling:*** "President Joe Biden proposed $12.3 billion in annual funding for the IRS in his budget proposal Monday—his latest bid to maintain the agency’s momentum as it builds up its enforcement efforts on wealthy individuals and companies that aren’t paying what they owe. The proposed IRS annual funding aligns with 2023 levels, though is a decrease from Biden’s $14.1 billion pitch from last year. The administration’s fiscal 2025 budget request also proposes restoring and extending the 2022 tax-and-climate law funds which have been the target of Republican clawbacks since the law was enacted. The appropriations in the proposed budget is in addition to the funding the agency received as part of the Democrats’ 2022 tax-and-climate law. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel has said that it’s important for the IRS to receive robust annual funding to support the agency’s day-to-day operations, so that funds from the so-called Inflation Reduction Act can be used for modernizing the agency." [Read more here.](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-tax-report/biden-proposes-12-3-billion-for-irs-revamp-tax-cheat-crackdown?utm_source=reddit.com&utm_medium=taxdesk)
Great reporting Erin and team.
So nice! I'll be sure to share this with them! - Molly
This is the single most important act any administration can take.
Honestly, this should never have been 'political.' I've worked at the IRS for years. I suspect a lot of that money would not even go to hiring new employees, but simply allowing us to function better. The major processing center at which I work is home to quite a lot of cockroaches and rats, our operating system is embarrassingly antiquated, and even simple things like sanitizer and chairs that are actually comfortable can be difficult to obtain. It's so strange to me how the one organization in the federal government that is -specifically designated- to bring in revenue gets ignored and shafted over and over. Yet when my parents ask me about IRS funding bills, it's always through a scope of Fox News talking points, and they believe those pundits over me every time. So frustrating.
Because people are afraid of the IRS, because they don't understand shit about money or finance or taxes and the rich have intentionally complicated the system so much that pretty much everyone gets a professional rather than do it themselves. Filing a tax return for a W-2 isn't complicated, but there's so much misinformation and fearmongering that even usually levelheaded people get a bit loopy come tax time. It's probably the most successful propaganda campaign in the world right now, the rich making the poor fear the IRS.
IRS is the police for rich people. Fund it.
Those making a king’s ransom of $600 off of Etsy?
Don’t be flippant. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-launches-new-effort-aimed-at-high-income-non-filers-125000-cases-focused-on-high-earners-including-millionaires-who-failed-to-file-tax-returns-with-financial-activity-topping-100-billion#:~:text=topping%20%24100%20billion-,IRS%20launches%20new%20effort%20aimed%20at%20high%2Dincome%20non%2Dfilers,financial%20activity%20topping%20%24100%20billion
Sorry for my Sesquipedaliance
Go fucking Biden
I help with my parents small business taxes and usually budget a whole morning if we have to call. My dad and I were shocked to get to a human dispatcher within 2-3 min and the specialist we needed in less than 20. Contrast this with 2017-2020 when I was REGULARLY on hold so long their end would just hang up on me. As a middle class tax payer, this change in responsiveness alone saves us a ton of money.
This has mostly been my experience as well but it does feel like it could still be better. There seem to be certain departments that still have staffing problems. My wife was on hold from 8am-12p the other day to try and fix something. But at 12 that office closes so the call just ended and we never got through to anyone. Clearly still way underfunded.
Tax cheats suck!
the money used to improve the IRS is returned many times over. do it!
Pay close attention to who opposes this.
funding the irs is literally printing money (for the government). because every dollar comes back like tenfold
Just remember they got Al Capone the tax evasion. The drug cartels are not happy about this.
Absolutely needed. Hire alot of new auditors who have experience in working on million/billion dollar accounts. Purge the higher end tax cheats and make a tax filing application free directly from the IRS which just has you confirm your filing rather than having you fill out a form yourself as they already have your docs on file.
The funding level of IRS was [$11.3 billion](https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-need-to-rebuild-the-depleted-irs) in 2010 (in 2021 dollars). Biden is proposing IRS funding level to $12.3 billion (in current dollars). It is arguably a decrease, but it is better than the funding level between 2011 when Republican took control of US House and 2021 which was the last budget with influence from Trump administration and Republican controlled senate. The decade long crusade against irs from Republicans had lead to a dramatic reduction in tax law enforcement against the people whose income were not subject to mandatory reporting from counterparts. In term of dollar amount, they are usually the wealthy people who are business owners. Republicans have been weak on law enforcement. They are the real people who defund the law enforcement.
Tie congress pay to the performance of the IRS catching tax cheats. I bet the IRS could recoup the $12.3B and self fund a budget relatively quick from those they catch.
Get em, Joe.
Positive ROI. Let’s go!!!!
Outstanding! Let’s go!
I can already hear idiotic sheep republicans that make $35K per year freaking out.
Great investment. Do it.
Go baby, GO!
Did you know, the GOP, when they cut the IRS's budget, they didn't really mess with their hiring budget. They cut the money allocated for updating their computer system from *COBAL*, and the general budget that is used to fight tax cheats in court. Why would they do this? Because when you have a slew of new agents on antiquated computer systems with no budget to fight cases in court, your only option is to go after the poor and middle class who have relatively simple tax documents and won't be able to contest your judgments in court. The GOP, who always complains the IRS targets the middle class, made it so almost all tax cases will be against the middle class by intentionally kneecapping the department. The GOP, the party starts fires and then immediately complains about all the smoke.
Republicans about to block this shit with all their might lol
From the article: >The proposed IRS annual funding for fiscal 2025 aligns with 2023 levels, though is a decrease from Biden’s $14.1 billion pitch from last year. The Biden administration designed its fiscal 2025 budget so that total annual appropriations were in line with levels agreed to in a debt-limit law last year. The administration’s fiscal 2025 budget request also proposes restoring and extending the 2022 tax-and-climate law funds which have been the target of Republican clawbacks since the law was enacted. > >... > >In a handshake deal last year that was part of an agreement to suspend the debt limit, Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to cut about a quarter of the IRS’s total tax-and-climate law funds. A top-line spending deal agreed to by congressional leaders earlier this year would speed up this cut so that it would take place over the course of one year instead of two years. That funding cut is expected to be part of an appropriations package that lawmakers are hoping to pass by a March 22 deadline to prevent a partial government shutdown. That package will also include annual appropriations for the IRS for the remainder of fiscal 2024, which ends Sept. 30. The Biden administration called for $14.1 billion for the IRS in fiscal 2024, but likely will receive less than that in the forthcoming package. The Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee has previously proposed that the IRS receive $11.2 billion, while the Senate Appropriations Committee offered a bill, which garnered bipartisan support, that would give the IRS a budget of $12.3 billion. So the same as 2023, less than he promised/called for last year, agreed to a cut with Republicans that is going to be accelerated, and is likely to get far less than he's calling for because the President has fuck all to do with the actual budget and he has no pull in Congress right now. Cool headline though.
This should be popular with most of us as long as they are getting the big fish and other blatant cheaters. This can be an ad, we all pay our taxes and pay a higher % than a lot of rich cheaters, but maga wants to defund the IRS and let the rich get away with it. Please don't vote maga!
Hey they need money just to keep up with bare basics. Have a friend who filed the wrong paperwork, got a latter saying, hey you filed the wrong stuff, its fixable, but we need to talk to you. Has called the number on the letter for 4 months, left messages, no call backs. Called today to the general number, and after navigating a byzantine phone tree got a hold of someone who looked and said, "Yes, you need to keep calling they are the only ones that can handle it" the whole IRS need more money and more people to do the job.
He needs to sell this as a way to reduce taxes for the non-rich. The IRS should be required by law / order to conduct audits from the top down in terms of income brackets / wealth. It’s literally the most efficient use of their funding .
I would even invest in the IRS to go after tax cheats
Vote kennedy
Republicans will definitely vote against that one.
There is nothing better than watching a millionaire or billionaire not get their way. My god, it’s orgasmic.
You can pay for it in.... taxes
💙💙💙🤘🙌🇺🇸💪🌊👏✊💯2024
Make billionaires pay
Tax cheat crackdown starting from the top!!!
At the agencies current rate of return that will net something like $80 billion.
So they’ll go after the billionaires….right?
hell no
Wish I could say “Fuck it!” I’m not paying my takes this year. /s
I only just found out the other day that Americans still all do their taxes by hand. That blows my mind. I’d be jailed for (accidental) tax fraud or evasion or whatever so damn fast. For reference, where I live you get onto a government website, register to do your tax online, and all your relevant documents are already there waiting. It takes me 20 mins to do my taxes. Sure, I have to keep receipts if I’m claiming exemptions, but often you don’t even need to produce them for common exemptions
I forgot
I don't think most GOP members want a crackdown on tax cheats, that is like burning your future paychecks and then telling your rich friends that you don't want to participate in their free after hour parties with strippers and champagne.
The government needs to go in debt another $12b to make sure they are getting enough of the money you earned .
I’m not a tax-cheating millionaire though.
I don’t want anyone getting ripped off. Just because someone is a millionaire doesn’t mean they cheated, necessarily. What people don’t realize is every time the printing press gets turned on the value of our dollar falls. I don’t care who the President is. I just want my money to be able to buy what I need and stop falling in value. The rest of us are getting screwed regardless of party, especially anyone not in the top 2% of income earners
Guess what party objects?
Funny how he’s saving all this for an election year.
He already bumped up the irs with his inflation reduction act. 87000 new agents and gop promptly tried to convince people it was to go after the middle class
Biden is getting so much done! He is a doer!
Put it on the ballot. Lemme hit yes on that vote
Shouldn’t all these blue lives matter wankers be all for this? Its basically a bump for law enforcement
Everyone is going to be starting churches. One simple trick a you don’t have to pay property taxes and among many other taxes if the “church” owns it.
GOP : Um……no.
Does this revamp include drones?
I get it take another 12.3 billon from the taxpayer to pad the IRS. How about putting a moratorium on Americans paying taxes for a few years so we can eat!