There seems to be a lot of confusion out there, so let's clear it up.
Here are ten reasons why we really, really need to #FundTheIRS 🧵
1️⃣
Republicans have spent the last 12 years defunding the IRS.
The IRS' annual funding has been slashed by 20% since 2010. That includes a 25% cut to the IRS enforcement budget.
Why the budget cuts? To protect wealthy and corporate donors from having to pay the taxes they owe.
2️⃣
These cuts have left the IRS understaffed and underfunded.
It doesn't have the resources it needs to answer most phone calls and promptly process tax returns.
As of June 2022, nearly 21 million taxpayers were still waiting for their returns to be processed from last season.
3️⃣
The IRS doesn't have the resources it needs to audit the rich and corporations.
From 2010-2019, audit rates of large corporations declined by 54%.
Audit rates for millionaires dropped by 71%.
That's only made it easier for millionaires to get away with evading their taxes.
4️⃣
The IRS needs funding to be able to catch the rich tax cheats taking advantage of the rest of us.
The richest 1% avoid paying $160 billion every year.
That's money that could be spent on education, healthcare, childcare, etc.
Instead, we're getting stuck with the bill.
5️⃣
The IRS is only twice as likely to audit an EITC recipient as they are a millionaire.
That's because it's cheaper/easier to audit those with less complex tax returns.
With more funding, the IRS can audit those who avoid taxes on a much larger scale—the rich and corporations.
6️⃣
Funding the IRS more than pays for itself.
The $80 billion in IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act will increase federal revenue by $180 billion over the next decade.
7️⃣
We need to fix America's two-tiered tax system.
Right now, working families pay taxes with every paycheck. Meanwhile, the rich use complex tax avoidance schemes to pay little or no taxes.
A well-funded IRS can make sure the rich and corporations pay their fair share, too.
8️⃣
Republicans are lying about increased IRS funding.
No, there are not "87,000 IRS agents" coming after the middle class. The IRS is hiring employees to answer phones, process returns & catch rich tax cheats—mostly replacing 50k who are expected to retire in the next 10 years.
9️⃣
Just look at Trump.
Only one agent was working on Trump's taxes once the IRS finally began their audit process, and the agent doing so lacked the experience to assess Trump's extremely complicated returns.
And we all know he wasn't paying close to HIS fair share.
🔟
We NEED the IRS to be properly funded so it can work on behalf of ALL of us, not just let rich tax cheats skate by.
The IRS collects revenue needed for services we use every day. It collects Social Security & Medicare payments. It processes CTC and EITC credits for families.
So don't buy the lies and fearmongering.
Funding the IRS is an easy step we can take to make the agency work for working people, crack down on rich and corporate tax cheats, and build a more equitable tax code that better supports BIPOC communities.
It's a win-win-win. Period.
** correction **
The IRS is only twice as likely to audit a millionaire than they are an EITC recipient.
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