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How about the IRS focuses on the major tax cheats instead of shaking down the proles for loose change? The game is rigged, use every opportunity you have to br

How about the IRS focuses on the major tax cheats instead of shaking down the proles for loose change? The game is rigged, use every opportunity you have to break the rules to get ahead because the people who lord over us definitely are.

alx__ 5y ago
Because they are constrained by Congress and lobbyists. We'll never be rid of TurboTax or HR Block :(
thathndude 5y ago
I’ve never understood this. You can get $500 from 1,000 tax payers. But wouldn’t those same resources be better spent targeting ultra high earners? The TAM of unpaid taxes Has to be substantially larger when it comes to high earners
- tzs 5y ago
  > I’ve never understood this. You can get $500 from 1,000 tax payers. But wouldn’t those same resources be better spent targeting ultra high earners? Ultra high earners can afford sufficient lawyers to turn it into a THX-1138 situation for the IRS. Certain elements in Congress have encouraged this by doing everything they can to cut the IRS budget. From 2010-2018 the budget was cut sufficiently to cause the IRS to cut its enforcement staff by 30%. Here's an article about it [1]. Some of the numbers in there are shocking. E.g., > Without enough staff, the IRS has slashed even basic functions. It has drastically pulled back from pursuing people who don’t bother filing their tax returns. New investigations of “nonfilers,” as they’re called, dropped from 2.4 million in 2011 to 362,000 last year. According to the inspector general for the IRS, the reduction results in at least $3 billion in lost revenue each year. Meanwhile, collections from people who do file but don’t pay have plummeted. Tax obligations expire after 10 years if the IRS doesn’t pursue them. Such expirations were relatively infrequent before the budget cuts began. In 2010, $482 million in tax debts lapsed. By 2017, according to internal IRS collection reports, that figure had risen to $8.3 billion, 17 times as much as in 2010. The IRS’ ability to investigate criminals has atrophied as well. [1] https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted
  - abernard1 5y ago
    > the reduction results in at least $3 billion in lost revenue each year. Is this "shocking"? In FY2021, the federal government brought in $4.05 trillion dollars. [1] This means this is less than 1/1000th, or 0.07% of revenue. The IRS budget is $12 billion dollars, and it was previously $14 billion, or $2 billion more [2]. What you're saying is that we lost $1 billion while managing to reduce the IRS workforce (and the number of people hassled by tax audits) by 30%. That sounds like a great deal. [1] https://datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finance-guide/revenue/ https://datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finance-guide/reven... [2] https://www.irs.gov/statistics/irs-budget-and-workforce https://www.irs.gov/statistics/irs-budget-and-workforce
stjohnswarts 5y ago
It's all about getting the little guy and carving out new loopholes for 100 millionaires and up. Lol heaven forbig Aunt Bea doesn't pay taxes on that $1000 of profit she made at last year's farmer's market weekends. Good thing she only took cash...

alx__ 5y ago

Because they are constrained by Congress and lobbyists. We'll never be rid of TurboTax or HR Block :(

thathndude 5y ago

I’ve never understood this. You can get $500 from 1,000 tax payers. But wouldn’t those same resources be better spent targeting ultra high earners? The TAM of unpaid taxes Has to be substantially larger when it comes to high earners

tzs 5y ago
> I’ve never understood this. You can get $500 from 1,000 tax payers. But wouldn’t those same resources be better spent targeting ultra high earners? Ultra high earners can afford sufficient lawyers to turn it into a THX-1138 situation for the IRS. Certain elements in Congress have encouraged this by doing everything they can to cut the IRS budget. From 2010-2018 the budget was cut sufficiently to cause the IRS to cut its enforcement staff by 30%. Here's an article about it [1]. Some of the numbers in there are shocking. E.g., > Without enough staff, the IRS has slashed even basic functions. It has drastically pulled back from pursuing people who don’t bother filing their tax returns. New investigations of “nonfilers,” as they’re called, dropped from 2.4 million in 2011 to 362,000 last year. According to the inspector general for the IRS, the reduction results in at least $3 billion in lost revenue each year. Meanwhile, collections from people who do file but don’t pay have plummeted. Tax obligations expire after 10 years if the IRS doesn’t pursue them. Such expirations were relatively infrequent before the budget cuts began. In 2010, $482 million in tax debts lapsed. By 2017, according to internal IRS collection reports, that figure had risen to $8.3 billion, 17 times as much as in 2010. The IRS’ ability to investigate criminals has atrophied as well. [1] https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted
- abernard1 5y ago
  > the reduction results in at least $3 billion in lost revenue each year. Is this "shocking"? In FY2021, the federal government brought in $4.05 trillion dollars. [1] This means this is less than 1/1000th, or 0.07% of revenue. The IRS budget is $12 billion dollars, and it was previously $14 billion, or $2 billion more [2]. What you're saying is that we lost $1 billion while managing to reduce the IRS workforce (and the number of people hassled by tax audits) by 30%. That sounds like a great deal. [1] https://datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finance-guide/revenue/ https://datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finance-guide/reven... [2] https://www.irs.gov/statistics/irs-budget-and-workforce https://www.irs.gov/statistics/irs-budget-and-workforce

stjohnswarts 5y ago

It's all about getting the little guy and carving out new loopholes for 100 millionaires and up. Lol heaven forbig Aunt Bea doesn't pay taxes on that $1000 of profit she made at last year's farmer's market weekends. Good thing she only took cash...