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John,
Since 2010, congressional Republicans have slashed the IRS budget by 20%,[1] leading to delays in processing tax returns and refunds and allowing the richest 1% to avoid paying $160 billion in taxes they owe each year.[2]
As a result, since then audit rates of millionaires and billionaires have dropped by 71% and audit rates of large corporations have declined by 54%.[1]
Exhibit A: Donald Trump’s tax returns
In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, a tax expert Steven Rosenthal wrote of the revelations surrounding Trump’s tax returns:[3]
First, Trump has paid little federal income tax mainly because his businesses have reported large tax losses since 1985, some of the losses real, some manufactured.
Second, the IRS utterly failed at auditing Trump, both before and after he became president, largely because it lacks the skills and resources to do so.
Third, Trump’s tax dodges are Exhibit A for why the IRS needs the extra $80 billion coming from last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, about half of which will go to enforcement.
However, as their first legislative order of business, House Republicans voted to defund the IRS to allow millionaire and billionaire tax cheats―like Donald Trump―to continue dodging taxes. They voted to slash $71 billion of the $80 billion approved last year.[2]
Help us bring our latest infographic below to thousands of people and fight to protect IRS funding to crack down on wealthy and corporate tax cheats. Chip in now!
But, Republicans didn’t stop there. We’ve since learned that among other concessions Kevin McCarthy made in exchange for the Speaker’s gavel, he’s agreed to hold a vote on a bill that would abolish the IRS and replace the federal tax code with a deeply regressive national sales tax.[4]
Republicans want to shift who pays taxes away from the wealthy and corporations and toward everyone else. They want working- and low-income people to shoulder the cost of virtually all federal programs.
Chip in today to fight to protect IRS funding from GOP attacks and to hold millionaires and billionaires, like Donald Trump, accountable.
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Together, we’re fighting back against policies devised by anti-tax extremists and fighting for policies that lower costs for working families.
Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] “Congress Needs to Take Two Steps to Fund the IRS for the Short and Long Term,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Feb. 1, 2022
[2] “In first legislative vote, top priority for new GOP House is protecting rich tax cheats, Americans for Tax Fairness, Jan. 9, 2023
[3] “Trump’s taxes are Exhibit A in the case for why the IRS needs a big upgrade,” Washington Post, Jan. 3, 2023
[4] House Republicans to vote on bill abolishing IRS, eliminating income tax, Fox News, Jan. 10, 2023
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