IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said that with a boost in federal funding and the help of artificial intelligence tools, the agency has new means of targeting wealthy people who have “cut corners” on their taxes.
“If you pay your taxes on time it should be particularly frustrating when you see that wealthy filers are not,” Werfel told reporters in a call previewing the announcement. He said 1,600 millionaires who owe at least $250,000 each in back taxes and 75 large business partnerships that have assets of roughly $10 billion on average are targeted for the new “compliance efforts.”
Conservative SCOTUS ruling making taxation of the wealthy unconstitutional in 3… 2…
I wonder, given the whole equal protection thing….
Could we sue the IRS for damages? I mean, this is the fed government’s revenue. Them running out of money…. And running up the debt affects us negatively….
They actually are about to review an interesting case which could have huge tax ramifications:
It’s hard to summarize but basically they’re trying to decide if part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is constitutional or not. It’s the part requiring taxpayers to pick up income for their share of income earned internationally that hasn’t been repatriated yet, essentially unrealized gains. This has broad implications on whether a wealth tax on unrealized capital gains (looking at you, Musk and Bezos et al) would be constitutional under the 16th Amendment which only authorizes an income tax.
I haven’t done a deep dive on that case though so I could be wrong, comments welcome.
Can’t wait for people in red states making <$50k to be really mad about this for some reason
Good but can we also do the billionaires?
Token victims chosen to placate the masses.
Millionaires are still fucking peasants to the ruling class.
There’s surely a name for when people react with disdain to even the slightest move in the right direction.
“Should have done it earlier” “Not enough” “It’ll probably get shot down in court” “Why bother”
and 75 large business partnerships that have assets of roughly $10 billion on average are targeted for the new “compliance efforts.”
From the article.
Anyway, I think billionaires are millionaires. Have to be to have billions. Which is to say, I doubt they’re not targeting billionaires too and that I’m thankful that AI will help the IRS keep the rich accountable.
The difference in disposable capital between a millionaire and a billionaire is substantial. A millionaire might be able to drag out an audit and find clever loopholes.
A billionaire will simply fund Republican candidates that will defund the IRS so that they never even see the audit.
Q:What’s the difference between someone who has 1 million dollars and someone who has 1 billion dollars?
A:Roughly a billion dollars.
Really, it’s practically the same at 10M.
A billion is just so fucking much more that our brains have a hard time even conceptualizing it.
I hear you my turtle friend.
I guess I’m saying this is a step in the right direction and I hope that the IRS is operating in good faith in regards to billionaires too.
But yes, the gop is corrupted by greed and have a long history of betraying their constituents for campaign donations.
If you have a million, you can spend $1.9 every minute to spend it all in a year. If you have a billion, it’s $1900 every minute. A millionaire is just a rounding error for a billionaire.
I get that.
But I think it missed the point of what I was saying.
Millionaire includes Billionaires. If you have 999 million, you don’t stop having millions of dollars because you rob people of one more million.
It’s an inclusive term of billionaires, and was probably chosen as the title of the article to save on space rather than to imply billionaires are somehow excluded from these new procedures.
Grover Norquist, who heads the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, said the IRS’ plan to pursue high wealth individuals does not preclude the IRS from eventually pursuing middle-income Americans for audits down the road.
Lol love the complete lack of evidence with just a big ol dose of non sequiter fear-mongering, they MIGHT come for you next!!
how is it any different from now, when they come after us and NOT the rich? Like we never stopped getting policed that was rich privilege only, and only because of the complicated tax structures that open up to you once you start a business that has some cash throughput
total fear-mongering like you say
They were coming for middle class people because we can’t afford audit defense, or massive bullshit campaigns like “omg they’re targeting conservatives!!”
Okay. Audit me. I have W-2 wages and take a standard deduction. Like why are every day people afraid of being audited.
Because it’s a huge hassle and you could end up being fined if they find something they don’t like.
The vast majority of people do not have tax returns complicated enough to be worried about an audit. If you’re going through the process of itemizing your deductions, keep your receipts and have stuff saved and backed up. It’s not hard.
If you’re lying on your taxes hoping you don’t get audited, that’s your problem. The same way if you’re driving 20 over the speed limit and get a ticket. You knew the risk and did it anyways.
I love that Republicans seem to have fully embraced a fear campaign based in the idea that if the rich can be forced to obey the law that yOu mIghT bE nExT as though they aren’t also the people who gave police broad, sweeping powers to kick in our doors for any or no reason, to seize our money and then make us prove that we didn’t commit crimes to get it, to engage in warrantless mass surveillance, to establish huge swaths of America where the 4th amendment just doesn’t count if you “look like an illegal immigrant”, to establish fetus checkpoints at state borders, to make a dog’s opinion legally admissible in court if and only if that dog thinks you’ve committed a crime, and they’re trying to let the police into your bedroom to make sure you’re fucking correctly (in a cishet christian way).
We who have been overpoliced our entire lives know what they mean when they say “they might come for you next”. They mean that the police might overstep their bounds as thieftakers and thugs to keep the minorities in line and start coming for Real Americans (cishet white men) just because of a few little felonies.
Love the fear mongering for something that A) already happens, B) shouldn’t be an issue for people that are in the up and up and C) should be music to the ears of members of the “law and order” party.
