Progress is slow, but going in the right direction
 

IRS says it collected $38 million from more than 175 high-income tax delinquents | AP News

not sure we normal retired people have anything to worry about. .

Progress? So, they collected $38 million, but how much did they spend to collect it? The IRS annual budget is about $14 billion. $38 million is only 0.27 percent of their budget.

If we would just work to simplify the tax code this would become more difficult, and we would need less IRS (which costs money) to track it down.

I would also be in favor of a national sales tax if it would result in lower income tax rates and simplification. But it wouldn't, and we need look no further than Europe for how that would work.

A national sales tax will never happen because the 50 percent of people who pay no income tax would need to start paying taxes.

but the $14 billion is already in the budget and paid for, the $38 M is incremental, so 100% profit. .

$38 Million approximately is a decimal dust % of the federal budget, but increased policing and a few jail sentences will help compliance of the marginal brazen folks, and then increase collections. . .

the title still remains proper

The less one makes a greater percentage of income would be paid with national sales tax than a person of wealth

Thank God I'm 176.

:MOJE_whot:

The real question is how efficient is the IRS in collecting taxes. Think the vast majority would say not very.

True, however, within the constraints of funding and directives, not sure. .
There can be some constraints which prevents efficiency/effectiveness. .

not worth my time for figure out gov't inefficiencies. .

Obviously, there are constraints placed on the IRS. If there weren't, you would see thousands of cash businesses, like restaurants, construction, and landscaping companies with undocumented workers, shut down every day. In some areas of the country, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. All you would need to do is to show up and ask to see the FICA wage and tax records for the employees on site. Apparently, the IRS is told to leave these businesses alone.

Over 60% of US households pay no federal income tax; lots of freeloaders, "What me worry" types.

Increasing Share of U.S. Households Paying No Income Tax

I wonder if any of this magnificent sum was collected from Al Sharpton who last I heard owed $4.5M which would be much, much more now with penalties and interest?

We should all pay at least something. Sad that the tax code has written that so many have no care about taxes since they do not pay.

Infuriating that sharpton got away with being a tax cheat.

IRS is federal, the states collect local taxes in the form of real estate and sales tax.

People who don't owe federal still pay state taxes in the form of a rent payment and sales taxes. .

I am not opposed to the zero federal taxes, as its a form of a subsidiary. .

Thought the thread was about the IRS which is a federal operation. That was what I was talking about.

Like all the big corporations that make a fortune in profits and pay no tax?

That’s a rounding error in the federal budget.

The tax system has been out of control for many years.

Our Founding Fathers were prophetic in many ways, I so wished they limited voting to those that pay taxes. It is so hard to compete against any politician that offers to give away free stuff. Nobody hates Santa and he never comes in 2nd!

This is before they raise the budget for 87000 more irs agents for $8.5B cost.

the “Fair Tax” is a national sales tax on steroids and has been bouncing around congress for about 10 years now. It replaces ALL taxes the federal government takes in and includes a rebate to all house holds up to the poverty level for the tax they pay on good and services. This tax also replaces payroll taxes which anyone that works a legitimate job pays including the employer. Even the federal gas tax goes away with the fair tax. For retirees, all capital gain taxes goes away as well as RMDs. I’ve read a few books on it and can’t find a whole lot of cons and lots of pros… including abolishing the IRS.

A drop in the bucket of the billions this government wastes, means nothing...The unchecked government spending is the problem...Not the citizens.

LOL. It sounds good to me, but it would have zero chance of ever becoming a law.

True that. I'd also add "unchecked government spending on pork", AKA vote buying and playing fast and loose with Joe Taxpayer's nickel.

Had an interesting situation UpNort some years back. An expressway was being built to replace a particularly onerous stretch of two-lane road. Minnesota is notorious for taking forever to complete highway projects and this one was no exception. It finally got done about early May one year. However that year was an election year and the road wasn't open for traffic until October. Big deal: media, cameras and of course the Congressional Rep. for that district was there taking all the credit. Though it was strenuously denied at the time, word had it that the opening was held off until October for precisely that reason.

There is far too little accountability, in my opinion, not just for what that tax nickel is spent on, but how.

The federal government spends $7 million per minute, every hour every day. So this covers spending for six minutes. And I would bet that this news article is overblown and tries to categorize these high income earners as cheaters on their taxes. In all likelihood it most likely was a difference in the understanding or interpretation of complex tax laws between their accountants and the IRS

That reminds me of an Army general who once asked why a headquarters building design was not completed. He was told that the foundation design would take another 2 months or so. He demanded that it be completed in a week. So, the structural engineers designed a 5 foot thick, solid concrete mat foundation, which cost about 5 times as much as a typical footing design. The building was completed early, but it sat empty for about 8 months after completion.

Simplify reporting for the wealthy. Create a 5 line tax form for them. Name, SS#, address, occupation, income. Take that income times 33% and thats your tax liability. Billions more will come in and a 6th grader could check it. Its all about too many deductions.
Leave those for the middle class.

$38M is chump change. If that money was truly "collected," rather than just listed as a receivable, it is likely those tax cases started many years ago. If the money came from settlements with the taxpayers, the cases were no doubt settled for a fraction of what was actually owed. You and I do not get the option of settling our tax liability for pennies on the dollar. But, if you have an army of lawyers and lobbyists at your disposal...

How would you define income? Would a restaurant that has $1 million in gross sales have to pay $330,000 in taxes?

Wonder if the got anything from Sharpton??? Probably not 😩

Introduce a VAT tax. Buy high priced item, pay more taxes. Of course, it does not stop government spending like a drunken sailor. That is a other problem.

I wish I could support you on that. Sounds good. But if you look into it, you discover that it falls much more heavily on “hardworking men and women” than on people earning more than a couple million a year. Sales tax only or an income tax with the same percentage for everyone makes the rich smile broadly and applaud. They make so much more than they spend, and so much of it is not classified as income. Meanwhile, those of us who spend most of what we earn would be soaked. The equivalent VAT (Value Added Tax) in the UK is now 20%, plus the other income taxes they pay. Imagine a sales tax only system, and it was, say, 30%. Currently most people have way less than that withheld by the IRS, and lots of low income people get much or most of the withholding refunded. Imagine paying a 30% tax on everything you buy! Instead of 6%, which is bad enough. And of course the state would still need its 6% sales tax.

I don't think we want to add ways for them to tax us. The rules are made and then the tax lawyers and investment experts create ways to legally get around them.

What is their average annual collection rate? Not sure if this is good, average, or low or just a puff piece to boost up something?

Why do you people think income tax is the only tax worthy of considering that a person pays. Low income people pay a higher percent of their income in taxes than the rich do. There is nothing special about income taxes. People pay many other types of tax.

Todays Sun had an article about how great the IRS is now doing collecting taxes from a handful of people. Total still a drop in the bucket

Wonder how much of this would have been collected if the IRS was not given additional funds?

Leave business alone, they drive the economy, strictly personal income tax suggestion, BUT, if small business is the backbone then exempt the first 75,000 in net income or tax them at 10% and not added to personal income.

A ridiculous comparison. Surely you don't imagine the entire 14 Billion was spent collecting the 38M.

This "fair tax" isn't so fair. The wealthy who make a lot of income put most of their income into investments and the bank. Therefore they would only pay tax on what they "spent" and pay no tax on their investments. This is a scheme to help the rich!

As to the gas tax - this is going to be a problem in the future. With the push towards electric vehicles, hybrids and just more fuel efficient vehicles gas consumption is going to go way down and taxes along with it. Toll roads would partially work to alleviate the problem - so roads like I-95 would need to be converted to a toll road.

All roads supported with the gas taxes would have to be converted - not very practical!

And if payroll taxes go away where are the funds going to come from for medicare and social security?

Not what I said. But, if they spent $100 million to collect $38 million, I don't consider that money well spent. We are only getting one side of the story.

I'm a working CPA. I see fraud all the time.

I've seen a potential client come in with an $81,000 check paid to his LLC and ask how this income could not be reported. (I sent him away).

I've been asked to file for Employee Retention Credit even though their sales went up. They advised a company advertising on the radio they spoke to said they had a way around this.
(If sales went up quarter to quarter you can't file for the ERC).

Many construction, farm and restaurants have employees paid with cash.

A bill passed last year giving the IRS enough money to hire more employees. Most of this money went to hire replacements for vacant positions or positions coming up through retirement.

A portion of this money was to go into hiring revenue agents for audits. It has been proven that audits recover 3 times the amount spent on audit personnel. There was misinformation spread that all of the money was for audit agents. Just not true.

There is an IRS hotline for CPA. Two or three years ago there was a ten to fifteen hold time before I spoke to an agent. Last week I called - it took three calls to get into the queue. I was told there would be a 30-60 hold time. After one hour thirty minutes I got to talk to someone. Was told they could not help me because another department had not processed the payroll taxes returns sent in two months earlier. I should call back in two to three weeks.

The IRS needs more money- not the reduction in funds the republican are calling for.