Staff Reports
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is not living up to President Biden’s promise to crack down on high-income individuals when it comes to audits. Despite a budget increase of $80 billion and the promise to go after those earning $400,000 or more, a new audit reveals that the IRS is still mostly focusing on middle-income Americans. This is only half of what the president had promised.
IRS auditors continue to target middle income Americans despite promises by the president and his team to turn agents loose on those earning $400,000 and higher.https://t.co/YQ6HKbPINf
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 6, 2023
The audit, conducted by the Treasury Inspector General, also found that the IRS has not provided enough training to auditors to help them uncover the more sophisticated tricks used by higher income earners to evade taxes. So not only are they not targeting the wealthy, but they also don’t have the knowledge or resources to go after them effectively.
It seems that the IRS is struggling to keep auditors and hire new ones, which only adds to the problem. The IG’s report concludes that there is no direct effort from the IRS to increase audits of high-income individuals. In fact, 75% of audits were focused on returns with total positive income of less than $200,000.
This is just another example of the government failing to follow through on its promises. President Biden talked a big game about going after the rich and closing tax loopholes, but it looks like it’s business as usual for the IRS. It’s time for the administration to take action and prioritize the enforcement of tax laws on those who can afford to pay their fair share.
