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John,
It’s officially tax season and thanks to the tens of billions of dollars of investments we’ve helped secure for the IRS, filing your taxes is beginning to get a whole lot easier.
This year, 13 states have implemented the Free File pilot program, allowing millions of taxpayers to file their federal and state tax returns at the same time using free online software provided by the IRS. If the pilot program is successful in the initial 13 states, it will likely be adopted even more broadly in next year’s tax filing season. That means millions of taxpayers will be able to save time and money filing their taxes each year instead of enriching corporations like TurboTax and H&R Block.
These investments have also allowed the IRS to process tax forms more quickly and clear a backlog of more than 23 million individual and business returns.[1] Last year, they also cut the wait time for phone calls to the IRS from 28 minutes down to just 3 minutes, answering 3 million more calls than the year before.
Politico reports, “That new [agency funding, IRS chief Danny] Werfel says, is going toward better customer service, expanded hours at taxpayer assistance centers and the digitization of IRS notices and communications. ‘The difference a well-funded IRS makes for taxpayers is like night and day,’ the commissioner said...”[2]
Unfortunately, by taking the world economy hostage last spring with their threat to force the U.S. government into default, Republicans secured a $20 billion cut in IRS funding. And they want to cut even more.
Cuts to IRS funding of the size Republicans ultimately want will result in less revenue collected from rich people and corporations who try to cheat on their taxes. Less revenue means cuts to critical services liking housing assistance, nutritional aid, Head Start, healthcare, and more. Or if we don’t cut services, the federal deficit will balloon by at least $114 billion over 10 years.[3]
Research shows that for every $1 spent on making sure that wealthy tax cheats pay what they owe, we see, on average, a $22 return.[4]
Speaker “MAGA Mike” Johnson’s attempts to cut this vital IRS funding make one thing very clear: he will sacrifice anything, including deficit control and public services hard-working Americans need, just to protect ultra-wealthy tax cheats.
Donate today to fight back against GOP attempts to gut the IRS just to protect the party’s wealthy tax-cheat donors from having to pay what they owe.
It’s still early in the process, but restored funding for the IRS is already paying big dividends. The agency has collected $500 million from millionaire tax cheats[5]; notified Microsoft that it owes $29 BILLION in taxes[6]; and announced the audits of 60 giant corporations that together make more than $500 billion in profits each year.[7]
By investing in the IRS, we’re allowing the agency to better serve everyday taxpayers while cracking down on wealthy and corporate tax cheats.
Donate today―here at the start of tax-filing season―to protect the critical investments that we’ve made, including holding wealthy households and big corporations accountable for what they owe.
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:
Together, we’re fighting for a tax system that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] U.S. IRS clears massive backlog of unprocessed paper tax returns
[2] Tax vote this week? Uncertain. Filing season open? Definitely
[3] Estimated Budgetary Effects of H.R. 23, the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, as Posted on the Website of the Clerk of the House of Representatives on January 9, 2023 as an Item That May Be Considered Pursuant to a Rule
[4] CONSERVATIVE EFFORTS TO PAD WEALTHY TAX CHEATS’ POCKETS
[5] The IRS crackdown on high-end taxpayers is already raking in millions in back taxes — here’s how much
[6] IRS says Microsoft owes an additional $29 billion in back taxes
[7] IRS Investment Update: Business Account Launches, Noncompliant US Subsidiaries Targeted
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