Thread by @LHSummers

1/ In Tax Notes today, former IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti, @NatashaRSarin and I outline how the next Admin can collect more than $1 trillion in a highly progressive way:
Making people pay the taxes that they already owe.
taxnotes.com/featured-analy…

2/We've previously written independently on the need for a robust attack on the tax gap.

Here, we come together to lay out a roadmap for change, calling for more audits, tech improvements & third party reporting that will help IRS collect taxes due but unpaid, disprop by the $$$

3/ Our program would raise enough to fund important policy initiatives that will help those who need it most:
Could more than double the EITC or SNAP; or fund universal pre-K and paid leave programs.

4/ Will also make the tax code more efficient and fair: As @NickKRistof pointed, it is outrageous that today the IRS is more likely to audit taxpayers who live on the Mississippi Delta than Park Ave.

https://twitter.com/NickKristof/status/1314997580217020416?s=20

5/ But a gutted IRS simply doesn’t have resources it needs to go after the top—even though that’s where the unpaid taxes are.

Budget is down 15% in a decade, workforce is down 20%, highest drop for agents capable of high-income examinations.

6/This is why we all believe investment in the IRS is top priority for tax reform efforts.

Our hope is for legislation to give IRS resources it needs to rebuild workforce, overhaul outdated tech, and collect info from 3rd parties to cross-check returns.

7/ But much can also be accomplished on Day 1 in a new Admin.

For ex: Treasury can redirect existing resources toward $$ noncompliers; prioritize these cases and seek high penalties; sanction tax advisors who facilitate malfeasance; and use existing authority to hire IT talent.

8/ Investment in IRS, to signal an end to two-tiered tax system, is not where tax reform efforts should stop.
But seems a natural place to start, and an area where much good can be done early on through regs and creative exec action.