Hi Reader,

So far this year, over 30,000 individuals have made donations to ProPublica in support of our relentless journalists and the fearless work they do to uncover abuses of power and breaches of the public trust. Join us today with your donation, and help ProPublica continue to dig deep into critical issues.

Earlier this week, we published three of the latest stories from our explosive series, “The Secret IRS Files.” First, we revealed that even as American oil-and-gas and real estate moguls have seen their wealth grow by billions of dollars, they have managed to repeatedly avoid paying any federal income tax by claiming huge losses on their businesses. In the second piece this week, we exposed how the hobbies and side businesses of the ultrawealthy create huge write-offs that can let them get away with paying little or no income tax for as much as a decade at a time. And finally, on Thursday, we reported on Phyllis Taylor. Her oil company, Taylor Energy, is linked to the longest-running oil spill in U.S. history. This ecological disaster has become a tax bonanza for Taylor, who was able to transform money her company was compelled to spend cleaning up the oil spill into a perfectly legal nine-figure tax write-off for herself. From 2005 to 2018, Taylor took in some $444 million in income, most of it from wages, interest, dividends and capital gains, and didn’t pay a cent in federal income tax.

Our hope is that these stories (like all our investigations in this series) spur a fact-based discussion from citizens and lawmakers on the fairness of our tax policy.

And we have reason to be hopeful. Our track record is unparalleled: Laws get changed, policies get reversed, innocent people are freed and more.

Investigative journalism is time-consuming and expensive, and it’s because of the ongoing support of tens of thousands of individuals that we are one of the largest investigative newsrooms in the country. But the critical dollars we are raising as the year comes to a close cannot come a moment too soon — we’ve got stories brewing all over the country, including more on “The Secret IRS Files,” police reform and racial justice to name only a few. Join us today to help ensure we have the independence and resources we need to keep going.

Journalism that shines a light on injustice and creates real-world change is powered by our readers, and I hope we can count on you.

Best wishes,
Robin Sparkman
President and Co-CEO
Proud ProPublican