Dems push IRS reform after it was dropped from $1T infrastructure bill
Warren, Sanders and Whitehouse said a decline in IRS resources and staffing has enabled noncompliance
Expert gives warning of crypto tax included in infrastructure bill
Brock Pierce, Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, discusses the impact of the crypto tax in the infrastructure bill on 'The Claman Countdown.'
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., wrote a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig on Monday requesting more information on the "benefits of investing in the IRS" after a proposal to inject $40 billion into the agency to close the tax gap was scrapped earlier this year.
The trio said the agency needs resources in order to go after tax cheats and provide better customer service, noting that wealthy taxpayers and corporations fail to report their income and use other methods to avoid paying their fair share – unlike the majority of working-class Americans.
Warren, Sanders and Whitehouse noted that Rettig has said revenue from closing the tax gap could be used to fund policies like infrastructure building, child care and improved Medicare coverage.
CORPORATE TAX HIKE TO HIT MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICANS, STUDY SHOWS
"Proposals to increase funding and financial information reporting to the IRS – including the Biden administration’s tax compliance plan and my Restoring the IRS Act – will help the IRS go after wealthy tax cheats and raise hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars," Warren said in the letter. "It is now more important than ever that we include investments in the IRS and fair tax enforcement in the budget reconciliation infrastructure package that Congress is developing."
They asked him to provide details regarding a number of issues, including staffing and IT needs, audit rates, and how increased funding would affect the tax gap.
They said noncompliance among wealthy taxpayers and corporations has been enabled by a decline in resources and staffing at the agency, as well as a lack of information reporting.
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A bipartisan group of senators had originally included a proposal to fund the IRS with an additional $40 billion to strengthen enforcement as a means to raise revenue, but the proposal was scrapped after it lost Republican support.
The senators alleged that while the proposal initially had bipartisan support, lawmakers came under "intense scrutiny from corporate lobbyists and anti-tax extremists."
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On Tuesday, the Senate passed the $1 trillion infrastructure proposal by a 69-30 margin. Nineteen Republicans voted in favor of passing it along with every Senate Democrat.
The bill, which includes about $550 billion in new federal spending, will be funded by repurposing unspent COVID-19 relief funds, in addition to cracking down on cryptocurrency transactions.
The House will take up the bill next.