Congress rolls IRS for another $20 billion, allowing wealthy tax cheats to skate

Congress revoked an additional $20 billion from the Internal Revenue Service last week when lawmakers averted a government shutdown, allowing wealthy tax cheaters to avoid detection and collections.

President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats gave the IRS $80 billion in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, but Congress rescinded $20 billion as part of a 2023 budget deal.

Shortly afterward, Republicans vowed they’d be back for more IRS cuts in order to prevent affluent tax dodgers from getting caught.

When Congress approved the stopgap continuing resolution, all the existing policies from the previous fiscal year were carried forward unless new language was specifically added to the bill to change it.

When lawmakers extended government funding into March, an additional $20 billion in cuts came automatically because there was no language in the bill to undo last year’s cut, so it repeated in the new law.

The second $20 billion cut may undermine many of Biden’s efforts to improve customer service at the tax agency and train fresh scrutiny on wealthy tax cheats.

The IRS said in July that its plan to crack down on wealthy tax cheats was paying off, with the agency collecting more than $1 billion since targeting high-income earners who owe the government money.

A joint announcement from the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department highlighted that Biden’s infusion of $80 billion from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act was helping to recoup revenue for back taxes from high-wealth cheaters.

IRS announced thos month that the agency recovered $4.7 billion in back taxes since the nation’s tax collector received a massive funding surge through Democrats’ flagship tax, climate, and health law in 2022

The IRS collection effort is focused on taxpayers with over $1 million in income who have failed to pay recognized tax debts of more than $250,000.

Republicans plan to renew some $4 trillion in expiring GOP tax cuts, a signature domestic achievement of Trump’s first term, and an issue that may define his return to the White House.

By cutting back on collecting money owed by the richest Americans, the GOP is shifting the costs of government to the working middle-class citizens whose quality of life has been battered for the past five decades.