http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/18/added-irs-funding-tax-collections/

Opinion  Added IRS funding yields many times its costs in tax collections

January 18, 2024 at 5:14 p.m. EST

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The Jan. 12 news article “Republicans look to keep deflating an IRS budget pumped up by Biden” presented a very useful picture of the Biden administration’s effort to strengthen tax enforcement and the potential damage of Republican efforts to “claw back” the added funding secured by the Inflation Reduction Act. One is left to wonder why either party, Democratic or Republican, would oppose the effort to collect every penny of taxes owed under current law. This should be a straightforward matter of law and order.

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It has been conclusively established by the Congressional Budget Office and by numerous studies, including in the May 17 Wednesday Opinion essay by Natasha Sarin and Mark J. Mazur, “How to save taxpayers nearly $500 billion,” that added funding for the IRS, after 15 years of budget-cutting, would yield many times the cost in increased tax collection. Tax evasion, according to the latest IRS estimates, is approaching $700 billion annually.

Why is it that Republicans, given these facts, still oppose IRS funding? The answer is simple: Tax evasion appears to be more common by upper-income taxpayers, who are likely to be Republicans. It seems clear that Republicans in Congress are merely attempting to protect their tax-cheating supporters. Democrats need to shout this from every hilltop as a major campaign issue.

Alexander R.M. Boyle, Chevy Chase