Policing Tax Evasion Could Save Billions, GOP Won't Fund

Policing Tax Evasion Could Save Billions, But Republicans Won't Fund Enforcement

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) admitted on Monday that the federal government is in serious need of extra revenue. But since taking control of the House in January, Republican lawmakers have scuttled proposals that could reap billions in added government revenue by better policing tax evasion, saying government tax collectors should make better use of existing resources in this era of fiscal constraint.

The U.S. government loses around $300 billion in revenue each year because of tax cheats, some of whom hide their earnings in offshore accounts or disguise them using complicated business structures, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Since 2001, tax evasion has cost as much as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush tax cuts and the 2009 stimulus combined, according to the financial-services analysis firm The Motley Fool.

In February, the Obama administration requested $339.3 million in additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service in 2012 to chase this costly tax evasion. According to the IRS, that extra funding would be paid back twice over with the additional revenue brought in through enforcement. Most outside economists agree.

"There is no question that the IRS agents are able to produce enough extra revenue to be a good return on that investment," said Wayne Angell, a conservative economist who is a former governor of the Federal Reserve Board and has previously worked for Bear Stearns.

Yet instead of supporting increased enforcement, the GOP has been trying to cut IRS funding. In March, the House GOP sought to strip $600 million from the IRS budget as part of the continuing budget resolution. IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman told a house subcommittee those cuts would cost the government $4 billion in lost revenue. The final budget deal left the tax collection agency's annualized budget unchanged at $12.1 billion, $486 million less than the Obama administration had requested.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/2 ... 50243.html


I guess the GOP still has to protect its cronies if they want to keep those campaign donations rolling in...

The IRS has a track record of losing money every year,
Their lame excuses like above have proved nothing.
And if you research it most of the higher ups in the IRS owe the most but can't pay. Hmm

Martin Ent Inc wrote: The IRS has a track record of losing money every year,
Their lame excuses like above have proved nothing.
And if you research it most of the higher ups in the IRS owe the most but can't pay. Hmm

Maybe I am looking in the wrong places, but several google searches did not turn up info on IRS officials that cannot pay their own taxes. Maybe you could direct me to where you found this information

archer wrote:

Martin Ent Inc wrote: The IRS has a track record of losing money every year,
Their lame excuses like above have proved nothing.
And if you research it most of the higher ups in the IRS owe the most but can't pay. Hmm

Maybe I am looking in the wrong places, but several google searches did not turn up info on IRS officials that cannot pay their own taxes. Maybe you could direct me to where you found this information

I would be interested in seeing this "source" too....

I doubt it. i had a neighbor who was a "revenoor". He said not paying your taxes ensured a swift dismissal.

Working for ANY tax/revenue agency is a GUARANTEE that your taxes will be examined...Fed, state, local... And if they are not kosher, it's a guarantee that you won't have a job for very long.

So, unless there's a valid source for this, I'll assume it's from the usual made-up sources....

LadyJazzer wrote: Working for ANY tax/revenue agency is a GUARANTEE that your taxes will be examined...Fed, state, local... And if they are not kosher, it's a guarantee that you won't have a job for very long.

You mean like Rangle and Geitner?


Federal Workers Owe $1B in Back Taxes
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503983_162- ... 03983.html

I wasn't aware that Rangel worked for a revenue agency... Do you have a link for that? Geitner should have been taken to task a long time ago, but I don't remember seeing that he was accused of tax evasion... Do you have a link for that as well?

LadyJazzer wrote: I wasn't aware that Rangel worked for a revenue agency... Do you have a link for that? Geitner should have been taken to task a long time ago, but I don't remember seeing that he was accused of tax evasion... Do you have a link for that as well?

You jest? They worked for him. Ways and Mean committee ring a bell?

google irs loses.
tons of cases, and there is one where an attorney showed that the employees were just as bad off as anyone else. think it was truth something. I read it last year about this time.