THANK YOU BROTHER, RICIN
The IRS is ramping up audits and enforcement against rich households and corporations after a funding boost.
America’s unpaid tax bill keeps growing and is now surpassing half a trillion dollars each year, according to new estimates from the Internal Revenue Service.
Individual taxpayers, businesses and corporations collectively owed $688 billion in unpaid taxes for the returns due last year, up from $601 billion the year before that, the federal tax collector said in Thursday projections about the gap between taxes owed and taxes actually paid.
The ballooning unpaid bill in tax years 2021 and 2020 is also up from an average $550 billion each year from tax year 2017 to tax year 2019, the agency said in its projections.
Thursday’s numbers add new fuel to ongoing debates about unpaid taxes, who’s not paying taxes, and how the IRS can recoup the money.
The IRS is ramping up audits and enforcement against rich households and corporations after a major funding boost through the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted last summer.
“This increase in the tax gap underscores the importance of increased IRS compliance efforts on key areas,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement.
The tax gap is not a measure of illegal activity. It doesn’t capture criminal tax evasion. The gap is an estimate of the difference between the amount the agency actually collects in taxes and the amount the IRS could collect if taxpayers fully reported all of their taxable income and the agency fully taxed it.
After enforcement and late payments, the IRS estimates it will rake back $63 billion of the $688 billion unpaid bill for 2021.
Last month, the IRS said it was focusing on approximately 1,600 millionaires who had tax debts of at least a quarter of a million dollars. The agency said it was also turning its sights on hedge funds, large law firms and partnerships.