The Internal Revenue Service would receive additional funding to crack down on tax evasion by high-income earners under a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.
Dubbed the Stop Cheaters Act, the bill would provide the IRS with additional funding for tax enforcement targeting high-income tax evasion, as well as technology support, systems modernization and taxpayer services such as free filing assistance.
Before receiving a major funding boost through the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS had been underfunded for decades. Critics say that often meant lower-income taxpayers were more likely to be audited, while wealthy individuals and large corporations with access to sophisticated accountants were often better able to avoid paying the full taxes they owed.
To ensure the IRS enforces the tax code more fairly and serves taxpayers better, the new legislation would direct more than $83 billion to the agency over the next 10 years. The amount includes $45.6 billion for enforcement efforts, $25.4 billion for technology and operations support, $3.1 billion to upgrade business systems and $9.6 billion for taxpayer services.
“As Congress seeks ways to fund much-needed policy priorities and address our growing national debt, there is one common-sense solution that should have unanimous bipartisan support: let’s enforce the tax laws already on the books,” King said.
“Our legislation will make sure the IRS has the resources it needs to confront the gap between taxes owed and taxes paid – while ensuring that our tax enforcement professionals are focused on the high-income earners who account for the most tax evasion,” he added. “This is a serious problem with an easy solution; let’s pass this legislation and make sure every American pays what they owe in taxes.”
