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> The problem is that no tax code can close all loop holes It's really a question of political will. Just think about the amount of resources the US spends on

> The problem is that no tax code can close all loop holes It's really a question of political will. Just think about the amount of resources the US spends on the "war on terror" or the "war on drugs" compared to the "war on tax evasion." If the US gov wanted to reform the tax code and enforce everyone paying their fair share, they most certainly could. The real issue, in my opinion, is that certain people have disproportionate influence in the legislative and rulemaking process, alas, we have the system we have.

bko 10y ago
> Just think about the amount of resources the US spends on the "war on terror" or the "war on drugs" compared to the "war on tax evasion." Not sure if you're trying to be sarcastic but many consider the "war on terror" and the "war on drugs" complete failures and a poor allocation of resources.
- ricksplat 10y ago
  It would be money better spent though surely!
- chishaku 10y ago
  I agree. It reads like I'm positing them as models of success which wasn't my intent. I'm just saying that the US gov has tremendous financial resources. Take a small drop ($10B) of those misallocated resources and you can triple the IRS' annual enforcement budget.
  - zallarak 10y ago
    I'd hesitate to conclude that tripling the IRS budget would improve their level of enforcement.
hsod 10y ago
> Just think about the amount of resources the US spends on the "war on terror" or the "war on drugs" compared to the "war on tax evasion." I was curious so I looked it up. 2016 IRS budget: $10.6 billion [0] 2015 DEA budget: $2.0 billion [1] [0] http://thehill.com/policy/finance/263767-irs-scores-year-end-funding-boost http://thehill.com/policy/finance/263767-irs-scores-year-end... [1] https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/jmd/legacy/2014/05/26/ba.pdf https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/jmd/legacy/2014/...
- MagnumOpus 10y ago
  The DEA is a tiny fraction of the drug war budget. Add to it half of the $74bn spending on the federal and state prison systems, a good 10-20% of the $100bn spend on county/metro police departments, a chunk of the cost of the Coast Guards... soon we are talking about real money.

bko 10y ago

> Just think about the amount of resources the US spends on the "war on terror" or the "war on drugs" compared to the "war on tax evasion." Not sure if you're trying to be sarcastic but many consider the "war on terror" and the "war on drugs" complete failures and a poor allocation of resources.

ricksplat 10y ago
It would be money better spent though surely!
chishaku 10y ago
I agree. It reads like I'm positing them as models of success which wasn't my intent. I'm just saying that the US gov has tremendous financial resources. Take a small drop ($10B) of those misallocated resources and you can triple the IRS' annual enforcement budget.
- zallarak 10y ago
  I'd hesitate to conclude that tripling the IRS budget would improve their level of enforcement.

hsod 10y ago

> Just think about the amount of resources the US spends on the "war on terror" or the "war on drugs" compared to the "war on tax evasion." I was curious so I looked it up. 2016 IRS budget: $10.6 billion [0] 2015 DEA budget: $2.0 billion [1] [0] http://thehill.com/policy/finance/263767-irs-scores-year-end-funding-boost http://thehill.com/policy/finance/263767-irs-scores-year-end... [1] https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/jmd/legacy/2014/05/26/ba.pdf https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/jmd/legacy/2014/...

MagnumOpus 10y ago
The DEA is a tiny fraction of the drug war budget. Add to it half of the $74bn spending on the federal and state prison systems, a good 10-20% of the $100bn spend on county/metro police departments, a chunk of the cost of the Coast Guards... soon we are talking about real money.