Thread by @TimOBrien

The IRS has spent years underestimating how much income wealthy tax dodgers have masked. The money has been stashed in complex structures, often offshore accounts or private partnerships, shortchanging Uncle Sam by about $175 billion a year. bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

Researchers zeroed in on the top 1%, top .1% and top .01% of US taxpayers from 2006-2013. In 2013, you were a one-percenter if your AGI was $428,713 or more. You were in the .1% with income of about $1.9 million or more, and .01% if you reported at least $9.5 million.

Analysts found that affluent people were more likely to evade taxes if they could find ways to shelter a lot of money inexpensively. If they couldn’t save a lot of money, they’d pass. If it was expensive to shelter money, they’d pass. But not many are passing, apparently.

Rich tax dodgers can hire pricey lawyers to defend themselves and Congress has gutted the IRS. One of the perverse outcomes of all this is that the IRS prefers auditing poorer taxpayers — because their transgressions are easier to detect.
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…