Wyden Calls for IRS to Track $67 Billion Corporate Tax Gap

WASHINGTON – The IRS must put a system in place to track the specific sources of unpaid corporate taxes, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore. wrote to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen in advance of this week’s budget hearings with U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS.

The IRS has estimated the annual “tax gap”, the net shortfall between the amount of taxes paid versus the amount owed, at $385 billion. As part of his analysis they identified the portion attributable to corporations at $67 billion per year, suggesting potentially $700 billion in uncollected revenue over ten years. Currently the IRS does not have a mechanism in place to identify sources of this lost money. Understanding the reasons why this money is not being paid and who is responsible helps Congress ensure that taxpayers get a fair deal.

“As you might imagine, it is disconcerting to me that the IRS, whose core responsibility is the proper collection of tax, has no system in place to identify the sources of corporate tax avoidance, evasion, and noncompliance with any specificity,” wrote Wyden.

Wyden plans to probe further on this issue during this week’s budget hearings. The full letter can be found here.

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