Tax Policy Center

audits

: TaxVox

If the IRS Gets $80 Billion, Will Its Agents Come Gunning for You?

With the near-certain enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Internal Revenue Service is on track for an $80 billion boost to its ten-year budget...
August 11, 2022Janet Holtzblatt
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Improving the IRS National Research Program

Alas, it takes a potential scandal to bring attention to a government program in need of reform. In this case, it’s the intense individual income...
August 8, 2022C. Eugene Steuerle
: TaxVox

How Should Congress Fund Investments in The Internal Revenue Service’s Infrastructure?

Congress is moving toward rectifying the decade-long funding crisis at the IRS . The House is on track to adopt President Biden’s proposed $1.6 billion...
July 7, 2021Janet Holtzblatt
Business Taxes: TaxVox

Too Many IRS Audits of Big Businesses Result In No Change In Tax Liability

Change can be good, right? Maybe or maybe not. But if you are the Internal Revenue Service, “no change” audits never are good. And, for...
April 19, 2021Janet Holtzblatt
Business Taxes: TaxVox

If Congress Wants the IRS To Collect More Tax from The Rich, It Needs to Pass Better Laws

Last week, a group of prominent academic and government economists published a study that estimated the top 1 percent of Americans hide more than 20...
April 5, 2021Steven M. Rosenthal
: TaxVox

How Much More Money Could The IRS Collect If Congress Gave Them More Money?

Would increasing the Internal Revenue Service’s funding for audits increase tax collections by more than the cost? Yes, if the funds are spent wisely.
September 28, 2020Janet Holtzblatt
: TaxVox

That Stubborn Tax Gap

About 82 percent of individual and business taxes due are paid voluntarily and on time. But not all taxpayers pay all they owe. Thus, the...
July 17, 2019Robert A. Weinberger
: TaxVox

The IRS Data Book Tells A Story of Shrinking Staff, Fewer Audits, and Less Customer Service.

The IRS published its annual trove of tax statistics Internal Revenue Service Data Book, 2018 on May 20. On its face, the volume is a...
June 7, 2019Robert A. Weinberger
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Neal Will Need More Of Trump's Tax Returns

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal will need more than six years of President Trump’s income tax returns...
April 5, 2019Steven M. Rosenthal
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

The IRS’s Commendable Silence In The Presidential Campaign

Have you noticed the contrast in recent weeks between the FBI and the IRS? The FBI is seemingly in every other headline in this year’s...
November 3, 2016Howard Gleckman