Over the last decade, audit rates have fallen most for the very richest Americans.

The result?

Less tax revenue and a more unequal tax system.

My latest in @bopinion

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

A thread:
IRS has been gutted in the last decade, the result of a partisan attack on the agency.

Budget is down 15% in real terms, workforce down 20%

Attrition highest for revenue agents capable of examining complex returns of the wealthy--like @realDonaldTrump
Unsurprisingly, strapped for resources, IRS has been forced to pull back from examination scrutiny

Audit rates for those making $10M+ annually are down nearly 80%

EITC recipients less than half that!
This makes no sense.

Wealthy are disprop responsible for tax gap:

Top 1% responsible for at least 30% of unpaid taxes

For vivid ex, consider Robert Brockman, who allegedly evaded $2B in taxes!

(relying on a program called..."Evidence Eliminator")

ft.com/content/8338fc…
Why the inequitable approach?

It's no fault of the IRS -- it simply lacks resources it needs to scrutinize high-end, complex returns.

Commissioner Rettig is explicit:

IRS needs $ to hire and train agents to ensure "appropriately balanced coverage across all income levels"
Work I've done with @LHSummers estimates $1T+ can be raised by robust attack on tax gap.

Former IRS Commissioner Rossotti suggests more, around $1.6T

But tackling noncompliance is not just about revenue-raising

nber.org/papers/w26475
It's about ending two-tiered tax system

Where the $ skirt the laws and get away w/ it

And yet highest audit rates reserved for low-income, minority communities

This inequity is yet another "casualty of being Black and poor" in US

One we must address

npr.org/2020/10/19/925…

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More from @NatashaRSarin

28 Sep
This is 1000% true.

The IRS has been gutted in the last decade, and the beneficiaries are the ultra-wealthy like President Trump.

A thread:
Audit rates for millionaires are down 75% in the last decade

Today, you are as likely to be audited if you are in the top 1% as if you are on the EITC

The result is a tax system that facilitates the kind of illegal games Trump has been playing for decades
Just a few 100 taxpayers cost the IRS $10B between 2014-2016

And they lacked the resources to even pursue these cases!

treasury.gov/tigta/auditrep…
Read 7 tweets

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