4 ms·

Thanks to Biden they are getting $60 billion to modernize. And Republicans have done everything they can to take it back from them.

ekianjo 3y ago
60 billion? They need to send a rocket to mars or something?
- idontwantthis 3y ago
  You can read all about it here https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57444 https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57444
- raybb 3y ago
  I don't think it's known exactly how the money will be spent but it also includes hiring 87,000 new IRS agents. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/09/with-new-agents-heres-who-the-irs-may-target-for-audits.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/09/with-new-agents-heres-who-th...
  - ekianjo 3y ago
    So modernization means adding more human machines in 2023?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - thedufer 3y ago
      The original comment was confusing - they're getting $60B, and also have a mandate to modernize. Only a minority of that money is actually being spent on the modernization. Most of it is being spent on additional auditing of tax returns - it's well known that every $1 spent on audits brings in more than $1 of additional revenue, and we're nowhere near the breakeven point. It's expected that the additional auditing will pay for itself several times over - even if you count the modernization spend against it as well, the government will see a large ROI on this $60B (they're expecting additional revenue of over $200B from the extra auditing).
- freddie_mercury 3y ago
  The vast majority of that money will go to hire more staff to pursue multi-millionaire tax dodgers, not to modernise the tech, so the previous comment was pretty misleading. The tech modernisation is supposed to cost about $2.5 billion over a decade or so. Just for rough numbers that's about what 1,000 developers would cost. That sounds like a lot but the IRS claims they need to rewrite 600 different applications, most of which are at least 20 years old. And the Individual Master File (IMF) is 60 years old. No idea what the systems are and I doubt each one of those 600 will take the full 5+ years. But you could see how they could pretty quickly get to needing hundreds and hundreds of developers for years at a stretch. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3744.pdf https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3744.pdf Looking over their tech modernisation plan ("Objective 4") in Publication 3744 they have a lot of work so the number is high but not like insanely impossibly high.
  - idontwantthis 3y ago
    I didn’t mean to sound like it’s $60 billion on tech. They are getting $60 billion, and they will modernize. Also projected to earn $200 billion over the same timeframe thanks to finally having the resources to catch cheating millionaires.
knubie 3y ago
$60 billion is a lot of money. How much do Americans actually spend on tax prep per year?
- idontwantthis 3y ago
  It’s $60 billion over several years and most of it goes towards enforcement so that the wealthiest Americans won’t be allowed to cheat on their taxes anymore.
  - firebat45 3y ago
    The way that the wealthiest Americans cheat on their taxes is by utilizing loopholes, not by breaking the law. You don't fix that with enforcement.
    - tanjtanjtanj 3y ago
      Often that "loophole" is making themselves too expensive or difficult to prosecute rather than finding an actual hole in the laws.
thunky 3y ago
The tax system will continue to get more and more complex. It's great news for Intuit.

ekianjo 3y ago

60 billion? They need to send a rocket to mars or something?

idontwantthis 3y ago
You can read all about it here https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57444 https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57444
raybb 3y ago
I don't think it's known exactly how the money will be spent but it also includes hiring 87,000 new IRS agents. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/09/with-new-agents-heres-who-the-irs-may-target-for-audits.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/09/with-new-agents-heres-who-th...
- ekianjo 3y ago
  So modernization means adding more human machines in 2023?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - thedufer 3y ago
    The original comment was confusing - they're getting $60B, and also have a mandate to modernize. Only a minority of that money is actually being spent on the modernization. Most of it is being spent on additional auditing of tax returns - it's well known that every $1 spent on audits brings in more than $1 of additional revenue, and we're nowhere near the breakeven point. It's expected that the additional auditing will pay for itself several times over - even if you count the modernization spend against it as well, the government will see a large ROI on this $60B (they're expecting additional revenue of over $200B from the extra auditing).
freddie_mercury 3y ago
The vast majority of that money will go to hire more staff to pursue multi-millionaire tax dodgers, not to modernise the tech, so the previous comment was pretty misleading. The tech modernisation is supposed to cost about $2.5 billion over a decade or so. Just for rough numbers that's about what 1,000 developers would cost. That sounds like a lot but the IRS claims they need to rewrite 600 different applications, most of which are at least 20 years old. And the Individual Master File (IMF) is 60 years old. No idea what the systems are and I doubt each one of those 600 will take the full 5+ years. But you could see how they could pretty quickly get to needing hundreds and hundreds of developers for years at a stretch. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3744.pdf https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3744.pdf Looking over their tech modernisation plan ("Objective 4") in Publication 3744 they have a lot of work so the number is high but not like insanely impossibly high.
- idontwantthis 3y ago
  I didn’t mean to sound like it’s $60 billion on tech. They are getting $60 billion, and they will modernize. Also projected to earn $200 billion over the same timeframe thanks to finally having the resources to catch cheating millionaires.

knubie 3y ago

$60 billion is a lot of money. How much do Americans actually spend on tax prep per year?

idontwantthis 3y ago
It’s $60 billion over several years and most of it goes towards enforcement so that the wealthiest Americans won’t be allowed to cheat on their taxes anymore.
- firebat45 3y ago
  The way that the wealthiest Americans cheat on their taxes is by utilizing loopholes, not by breaking the law. You don't fix that with enforcement.
  - tanjtanjtanj 3y ago
    Often that "loophole" is making themselves too expensive or difficult to prosecute rather than finding an actual hole in the laws.

thunky 3y ago

The tax system will continue to get more and more complex. It's great news for Intuit.