The end of fair taxation. Why will we regret gutting the IRS

[Zorro]

Tax cheats will be able to cheat even more.

Most of us paid no attention to this month’s revelation that, thanks to public servants at the Internal Revenue Service, one of the world’s biggest banks, Credit Suisse, admitted to conspiring with a boatload of mega-wealthy Americans, helping them evade billions in taxes. The bank paid more than $510 million in fines and admitted that its staff helped American tax cheats hide more than $4 billion from the IRS shrouded in 475 secret offshore accounts.

What pours salt in the wound of this bank’s latest admitted crimes is that this was all done after Credit Suisse pleaded guilty in 2014 to the exact same crimes and swore they would never do it again. Back then, they admitted that they had hidden $12 billion owned by 22,000 Americans they helped to evade taxes. In part, our nation suffers from a crushing deficit because the mega-rich, with the help of dirty banks and other advantages, pay only a tiny portion of their fair share.

I want to say that Credit Suisse’s disgusting conduct is an anomaly, but the reality is that it is common practice for many bankers who cater to the world’s wealthiest. More than 120 banks have either pleaded guilty to U.S. charges or otherwise publicly admitted to committing criminal offenses in connection with their facilitating illicit transactions on behalf of extremely wealthy U.S. customers. That means thousands of wealth management professionals have participated in these schemes, which, according to plea agreements and other pleadings, were standard operating procedures at each bank, collectively leading to hundreds of billions in evaded taxes.

Having once worked for the IRS Criminal Division, I know it’s a natural reaction to cringe when you hear “IRS.” However, employees of that agency generate significantly more revenue for our country than the cost of operating the entire agency. Even though defunding the IRS may seem popular, it makes no economic sense. The opinion of The Budget Lab, a non-partisan policy research center, supports that view. They predict that a lack of IRS resources would likely lead to a substantial increase in noncompliance and lost revenue to our Treasury, costing the nation $2.4 trillion in tax revenue over 10 years.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/05/29/end-fair-taxation-why-will-we-regret-gutting-irs-column/

[creon]

1. IRS does a good job.

[mopinko]

2. i assume many, many ppl will just cheat w abandon now.

y wouldnt u?

[surfered]

3. And a necessary one, but Congress kept cutting their budget. As a CPA, I saw fewer and fewer audits.

Biden passed a bill to increase their funding, but DOGE layoffs circumvented that.

The average taxpayer has his income (wages, bank interest, IRA withdrawals) reported to the IRS. About the only way for him to cheat was fudging Itemized deductions, but the IRS has a computer program to identify that.

Whereas the well to do, with pass through entities , need audits to ensure compliance.

[Autumn]

4. We? Sounds like someone's got a mouse in their pocket.

WE did no such thing. Musk, Trump and the fucking republicans did that.

[Silent Type]

5. trump's approach won't work, but it's not like the IRS has been that effective in catching tax cheats.

Article dated November 4, 2024 (somewhat ironic)

By Barbara Weltman Updated November 04, 2024
Reviewed by Erika Rasure

"The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) knows it has a big problem. Estimates from the IRS reveal a gross tax gap of $688 billion between 2020 and 2021 (its most recent estimate). The tax gap is the spread between what the government thinks it should be collecting and what it collects.

"Some cheats fail to report income, while others knowingly take write-offs they’re not entitled to. For example, the government pays out billions of dollars annually in refundable earned income tax credits due to fraudulent claims."

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/041515/how-irs-catches-tax-cheats-liars.asp