However, these expanded enforcement efforts have faced criticism from Republicans in Congress, who argue that the new audits will burden small businesses and won't raise the promised revenue. Despite this, the IRS has already seen success with a program to collect unpaid taxes from millionaires, collecting more than $480 billion from a group of 1,600 taxpayers. The agency is also launching audits on owners of private jets and has opened examinations of 76 large partnerships, including hedge funds and large law firms.
Key takeaways:
- The IRS is cracking down on tax evasion among the wealthy, with IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel stating that millionaires and billionaires are evading more than $150 billion a year in taxes.
- The IRS has launched several programs targeting taxpayers with the most complex returns to root out tax evasion and ensure every taxpayer contributes their fair share.
- Despite criticism and funding cuts, the IRS has seen early success with a program to collect unpaid taxes from millionaires, collecting more than $480 billion so far.
- The IRS is utilizing artificial intelligence to better identify returns most likely to contain evasion or errors, improving the precision and efficiency of audits.