Blog
42 posts
The Final Frontier of Tax Avoidance: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Has $1.9 Billion to Gain from Defunding the IRS
June 12, 2026 • By Matthew Gardner
A year after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut a swath of destruction through vital federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, Musk’s apparent antipathy toward the IRS suddenly makes more sense.
Trust Reform is Needed to Protect States, Especially in the Wake of IRS Enforcement Cuts
February 3, 2026 • By Sarah Austin
Trust use is widespread among the wealthiest households, with reports showing that roughly half of the nation’s wealthiest people rely on trusts for tax avoidance reasons
Intuit Helped Limit Americans’ Tax Filing Options While Raking in Millions in Tax Breaks
January 28, 2026 • By Joe Hughes
As tax filing season begins, families have fewer options than last year, thanks to the heavy lobbying efforts of big tax-preparation corporations like Intuit (the parent company of TurboTax).
The move was expected, given heavy lobbying from tax prep companies like Intuit and H&R Block to put a halt to the IRS’s popular Direct File program.
Leaving Billions on the Table: Trump-Induced Brain Drain Leaves the IRS Struggling to Prevent Corporate Tax Avoidance
September 25, 2025 • By Matthew Gardner
The IRS's capacity to prevent big multinational corporations from avoiding income taxes is facing a generational crisis.
As federal data systems erode, the U.S. risks losing the impartial information needed for sound policymaking and public trust.
Trump Administration’s English-Only IRS Would Undermine Public Trust and Boost Budget Deficits
August 19, 2025 • By Matthew Gardner
The Trump administration’s push to make English the official U.S. language threatens decades of progress in taxpayer services for non-English speakers, risking cuts to IRS multilingual support, harder tax filing, lower compliance, and an undermined agency mission.
Trump’s Firing of BLS Commissioner is Part of Larger Erosion of Federal Data Infrastructure
August 7, 2025 • By Emma Sifre
Last week, President Trump fired the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in apparent retaliation for weak jobs numbers. The move drew sharp criticism for spooking investors and weakening trust in official data. But it also reflects a deeper problem: the ongoing erosion of the federal data infrastructure.
Ending Direct File Program is a Gift to the Tax-Prep Industry That Will Cost Taxpayers Time and Money
April 17, 2025 • By Jon Whiten
The Trump administration reportedly plans to shutter the IRS Direct File program before it has a chance to get fully off the ground, taking away a free option for people to file their tax returns directly to the agency. Ending Direct File is another gift from this administration to large corporations, this time to the multibillion-dollar tax prep industry that profits from you filing your taxes.
IRS Cooperation with ICE Will Damage Public Trust, Putting Tax Revenues in Jeopardy
April 10, 2025 • By Marco Guzman
Attempts by the Department of Homeland Security to secure private information from the IRS on people who file taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a violation of federal privacy laws that protect taxpayers. It is also a change that could seriously damage public trust in the IRS, which could jeopardize billions of dollars in tax payments by hardworking immigrant families.
Turning IRS Agents to Deportation Will Reduce Public Revenues
February 11, 2025 • By Carl Davis, Jon Whiten
The Trump Administration’s plan to turn IRS agents into deportation agents will result in lower tax collections in addition to the harm done to the families and communities directly affected by deportations.
As Congress negotiates a bill for federal funding during the lame-duck session, lawmakers would be wise to remember that stripping funds from the IRS costs more than it saves. On the table in the appropriations bill is a $20 billion recission of funds to the nation’s tax administration. While this may look like a spending cut, it will increase deficits by $46 billion due to a drop in the agency’s capacity to enforce taxes on wealthy individuals owed under existing federal law.
States Should Opt Into IRS Direct File as the Program is Made Permanent
May 30, 2024 • By Jon Whiten
While there is plenty of room to expand Direct File at the federal level, states can take matters into their own hands and bring this benefit to their residents by opting into the program.
TurboTax Maker Puts a Pink Spin on Exploitative Financial Products
April 22, 2024 • By Amy Hanauer
This op-ed originally appeared in MSNBC Tax preparation behemoth Intuit (maker of TurboTax) recently unveiled a new campaign branding itself as a feminist company. “When it comes to the complexities of the tax code, women encounter distinct challenges,” reads a post on the company’s official blog, “and here at Intuit, we’re committed to empowering prosperity for […]
Congress Should Enhance – Not Diminish – IRS Capability this Tax Season
March 28, 2024 • By Joe Hughes
While funding cuts to the IRS may have been necessary as a political matter to avoid harmful agency shutdowns, they are severely misguided as a policy matter. By all serious accounts, cuts to IRS funding increase the deficit due to uncollected taxes – mostly from big businesses and the very wealthy.
IRS Commissioner, New GAO Report Highlight Importance of Proper IRS Funding
February 16, 2024 • By Joe Hughes
A new GAO report and Commissioner Werfel’s testimony highlight the value and necessity of a well-funded and functioning IRS. Most families and businesses do their best to pay taxes accurately and on time. The nation benefits from a modern revenue agency that can make this process as easy and simple as possible and identify complex tax schemes that deprive the country of revenues.
The IRS Direct File pilot is currently open to eligible taxpayers here. Millions of American families have now received their W-2s for 2023, signaling the start to a new tax filing season. The IRS has set January 29 as the first date that people can file their tax returns for the previous year, and the […]
The Latest Convoluted Arguments in Favor of Rich People Not Paying Taxes
November 13, 2023 • By Steve Wamhoff
Two Senate hearings last week focused on how the richest Americans are avoiding and evading taxes in ways that ordinary Americans could hardly imagine. All the experts brought in to testify seemed to agree that the House GOP’s recent tactic of “paying for” a spending proposal by cutting IRS funding makes no sense because it […]
Free Tax Filing Option from the IRS Would Benefit People of Color, Contrary to Corporate Warnings
October 30, 2023 • By Brakeyshia Samms
There's a patchwork of programs and preparers for people of color to turn to when filing taxes, and most come from corporations that profit from providing a service that the government could provide more effectively and efficiently for free. The Direct File program can change that and is a great step forward in the IRS’ work addressing racism in the tax code.
Intuit Receives Millions in Federal Subsidies While Arguing IRS Direct File Would Be Too Costly
October 24, 2023 • By Joe Hughes, Spandan Marasini
The tax preparation industry has for years lobbied to prevent the IRS from providing a tool that would allow Americans to file their taxes online for free. Recent public disclosures from Intuit, the maker of TurboTax and the leader of the pack, show that tax breaks the company claims for doing “research” might be larger […]
Large and Growing Tax Gap Underscores the Need to Adequately Fund the IRS
October 17, 2023 • By Jon Whiten
New figures released show the difference between what Americans paid and owed in taxes grew to $688 billion in 2021, a significant jump from previous estimates. This new data underscores that last year’s boost to IRS funding under the Inflation Reduction Act was absolutely necessary and should be protected by lawmakers.
Last year, Congress reversed decades of funding cuts to the IRS to help the agency improve taxpayer services and crack down on wealthy tax cheats through the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRS adopted their assignment, and this past tax filing season was a marked improvement from the year before – both for the agency and […]
Government Shutdown is Rooted in Hypocrisy, Dysfunction, and, As Always, Tax Cuts for the Rich
September 27, 2023 • By Joe Hughes
The priorities in this shutdown drama couldn’t be clearer. House Republicans once again threaten the financial security of the millions of Americans to exact cuts to programs like Head Start, the Social Security Administration, and the EPA – all while seeking unaffordable tax cuts for multinational corporations, the wealthy, and foreign investors.
Letter to IRS on Section 1001 Regulation in 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan
June 9, 2023 • By ITEP Staff
Read as PDF Re: Recommendation for Inclusion of Section 1001 Regulation in 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan To Whom It May Concern, We are writing to respectfully urge that the IRS return to the work it left unfinished in 2019 when it issued final regulations on “Contributions in Exchange for State or Local Tax Credits” (RIN: […]
Debt-Limit Deal’s Provision to Let Tax Cheats Off the Hook Will Increase the Deficit
June 1, 2023 • By Jon Whiten
The latest debt-limit bill in Congress includes a provision to claw back important IRS funding meant to crack down on wealthy tax cheats. This cut in funding would actually increase the deficit while continuing the rig the system in favor of the most well-off.
Blog Categories
Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy
ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
Subscribe to ITEP Emails
Tax research and policy news in your inbox.
Promote Fair Tax Policy
Your gift to ITEP promotes tax justice. With your help, we do research that supports taxing millionaires and billionaires, taxing big corporations and raising revenue for the things our people, our communities and our planet need.
Together, we can create a country with more economic justice, more racial justice, more climate justice… and more tax justice.