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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.
The House’s Debt Ceiling Smoke Screen: The GOP Budget Plan Gives Cover for Tax Cuts for the Rich
May 9, 2023 • By Joe Hughes
While it isn’t reasonable in the first place for Congress to debate whether it will pay the bills it has already incurred, some of the same lawmakers who are holding the economy hostage to exact budget cuts have decided to make the conversation even more irrational by proposing to increase deficits with tax cuts that enrich the already rich.
By Fighting Audit Bias, Funding for Tax Enforcement Can Advance Racial Equity
February 1, 2023 • By Jon Whiten
Black households are between 2.9 and 4.7 times more likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service than non-Black households. This disparity is driven in part but not wholly by a lack of resources at the IRS, which itself is driven by years of budget cuts the agency has faced.
National Taxpayer Advocate: Infusion of New IRS Funding a ‘Gamechanger’ for Taxpayers
January 17, 2023 • By Jon Whiten
A new report from the National Taxpayer Advocate – part of an independent oversight arm inside the IRS – found that the agency struggled in 2022 with timely processing of tax returns and refunds, responding to taxpayer correspondence quickly, and answering phone calls. It expects these issues to improve in 2023, thanks in part to the influx of $80 billion in new funding from last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, which the Advocate’s office calls a “gamechanger” for Americans.
“Fair Tax” Plan Would Abolish the IRS and Shift Federal Taxes from the Wealthy to the Rest of Us
January 11, 2023 • By Steve Wamhoff
The "Fair Tax" bill would impose a 30 percent federal sales tax on everything we buy – groceries, cars, homes, health care - and lead to a giant tax shift from the well-off to everyone else.
The “Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act” would rescind 90 percent of the new funding for the IRS included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. This would eliminate the new law’s $45.6 billion to enforce the tax code for people making more than $400,000 and repeal an additional $26 billion in IRS funding that would include, among other things, a pilot for a free e-file program to make it easier for people with relatively simple tax returns to file. The slash-and-burn bill comes just weeks after Republicans forced a 2 percent cut in annual IRS funding as part of…
Congress should unite around a basic principle that Republican, Democratic, and independent voters support: the wealthiest, whether they are presidents, CEOs, or just rich heirs, should pay their fair share. Using Trump's tax maneuvering as a guidebook could make the tax code much fairer for all of us.
Editor’s note: This originally ran as an opinion piece in The Hill. Though the Inflation Reduction Act is enormously popular, some politicians and pundits are trying to generate hysteria about one feature: Funding for the IRS. All the false claims are distracting us from two important things: how necessary the funding increase is to reverse […]
Lawmakers Must Choose Between Funding the IRS or Protecting Wealthy Tax Cheaters
August 12, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff
Grasping for some way to criticize the popular Inflation Reduction Act as it approaches final passage, Congressional Republicans have decided to attack its provisions that will reverse a decade of budget cuts to the IRS and instruct the agency to crack down on tax evasion by big corporations and individuals making more than $400,000. Of […]
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