The Trump administration has stated that the government is spending too much. This is false! The real problem is the IRS has been severely defunded and short staffed.
According to the nonpartisan Yale Tax Budget Lab, the tax gap – the amount that is owed the government but has not been collected – has risen to about $700 billion this year.
Of these taxes that have not been collected, 92% of the unpaid taxes are from the complex tax returns of the top 5% of the wealthiest taxpayers. The bottom 95% of the wage earners result in only 8% of the unpaid tax.
Those of us who work and receive a W2 form have almost 100% tax compliance. Defunding and cutting the IRS workforce even further will make this tax noncompliance in the top 5% even worse. This is essentially giving the wealthy an unofficial “tax break.”
Extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts this year will also decrease the tax revenue that is collected by $450 billion per year. Since the current budget relies upon deficit spending, extending these tax cuts is like us taking out a cash advance on our U.S. credit card and putting most of the cash into the pockets of the wealthy.
Call your representatives and senators and demand they reject the 2017 tax cut extension and restore full funding and staffing to the IRS. This could increase our tax revenue this year by about $1.1 trillion. It makes Musk’s $150 billion in so-called “savings” laughable.
John Redemske
Durango
