John,

For too long, the ultra-wealthy and big corporations have exploited an IRS that Congressional Republicans have deliberately underfunded to avoid paying what they owe in taxes.

Thanks to investments made by Congressional Democrats, the IRS has finally started turning this around, recovering $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from high-income Americans, finally making wealthy tax evaders follow the law.[1]

Let's be crystal clear about what's happening: For decades, Congressional Republicans deliberately underfunded the IRS, which allowed the wealthy and large corporations to cheat on their taxes. But now, investments made by President Biden and Congressional Democrats have allowed the agency to crack down on tax evasion by millionaires, billionaires, and corporations. New customer service representatives were hired to better respond to the needs of everyday taxpayers. Wait times have plummeted and regular Americans can finally get the help they need from the IRS.

Because they’ve undoubtedly heard an earful from their wealthy, tax-evading campaign contributors, Republicans are working to dismantle these improvements.

With a December 20th deadline to keep the government running, Congressional Republicans want to cut $20 billion from IRS enforcement so they can destroy the agency's ability to crack down on wealthy tax cheats while decimating services for working families.[2]

Tell Congress: Don't slash IRS funding in the end-of-year spending bill. Protect enforcement against wealthy tax cheats.

The timing of this attack is no accident. Congressional Republicans are counting on the chaos of a presidential transition and a potential fight over a government shutdown to slip cuts to the IRS through without public outcry. They're hoping you won't notice their multi-billion-dollar gift to wealthy tax cheats.

Every dollar cut from IRS enforcement translates into up to nine extra dollars in the pockets of wealthy tax cheats.[3] It's a direct transfer of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich.

With the December 20th funding deadline approaching, we're facing a clear choice: We can continue making progress toward a fair tax system where the wealthy and corporations pay what they owe, or we can let Republicans drag us back to a time when the wealthy played by different rules than the rest of us.

Tell Congress: Don't cut IRS funding in the end-of-year government funding bill.

Thank you for your commitment to tax fairness,

John Foti
Legislative Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] IRS collected $1 billion in back taxes from millionaires in less than a year | CNN Politics
[2] House GOP proposes IRS funding cuts, defunding free tax filing system
[3] How Changes in Funding for the IRS Affect Revenues

-- David's email --

John,

Billionaires are making their move. With Congress facing a December 20th deadline to keep the government running, Congressional Republicans are plotting to slash $20 billion from IRS enforcement in the upcoming funding bill, a move that would cripple the agency's ability to crack down on wealthy tax cheats while decimating services for working families.[1]

Thanks to recent investments, the IRS has recovered $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from high-income Americans who either failed to file returns or didn't fully pay what they owed.[2] This enforcement is finally making wealthy tax dodgers obey the law like the rest of us.

These investments have also dramatically improved services for working families. Wait times for phone assistance have plummeted from 28 minutes to just 3 minutes.[3] The agency is answering 65% more calls than before. A survey of 15,000 users of the new Direct File program found they’d saved $5.6 million in tax preparation fees.[4]

Now, Congressional Republicans want to destroy this progress to protect themselves and their wealthy donors. Their proposed cuts would gut the IRS's ability to go after rich tax cheats while forcing working Americans to wait longer for basic services.

Tell Congress: Don't slash IRS funding in the end-of-year government funding bill. Let’s keep cracking down on wealthy tax cheats and giving ordinary taxpayers better customer service.

The improvements we've seen from the IRS didn't happen by accident. They happened because Congressional Democrats invested in making the tax system work for everyone, not just the wealthy. The IRS cleared massive tax-filing backlogs and improved their responsiveness to taxpayer needs by hiring 5,000 new customer-service representatives.

Proposed Republican cuts would cripple the IRS's ability to collect billions in unpaid taxes from the wealthy while devastating services for working families, allowing the rich and corporations to continue breaking the law while increasing frustrations for law-abiding taxpayers.

These cuts would return us to the broken system of the past decade, where audit rates of high-income filers dropped by 87% between 2010 and 2021, allowing wealthy tax cheats to get away with paying nothing while working families faced more scrutiny and longer wait times for basic services.

The December 20th deadline is approaching fast. If we don't act now, Republicans will succeed in protecting wealthy tax cheats at the expense of everyone else.

We can't let them get away with this assault on tax fairness. Tell Congress: Stand up for working families; don't cut IRS funding in the end-of-year government funding bill.

Together, we can build a tax system that works for all of us.

David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] House GOP proposes IRS funding cuts, defunding free tax filing system
[2] IRS collected $1 billion in back taxes from millionaires in less than a year | CNN Politics
[3] IRS Efforts to Improve Customer Service | Government Accountability Office
[4] IRS Direct File Pilot Program Filing Season 2024 After Action Report