It is critically important that the Biden administration provide sufficient funding for the Internal Revenue Service to do its job. Our country is losing more than $500 billion dollars a year in unpaid tax obligations due to a lack of enforcement, especially on the top 1%.
Funding the IRS and directing it to prioritize wealthy tax cheats will show that President Joe Biden cares for the 99% and for a fair and just society. Republicans can’t be allowed to serve their wealthy masters by eliminating IRS enforcement.
My 19-year-old daughter, who worked a summer internship providing social services on the Yakama Reservation and earned less than $4,000, was contacted by the IRS to pay another $350 in taxes that were inadvertently not deducted. She ended up paying much more than many of our wealthiest citizens.
Funding the IRS is also a value proposition. It is the one expense guaranteed to earn far more for our government than it costs.
Tax fairness is much better policy than other initiatives offered under pandemic relief. It is not charity. It is fairness. Then go a step further and make the tax code fair also.
Michael Friedline, Shoreline