Wyden Statement on Declining IRS Audits of Wealthy Taxpayers

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released the following statement in response to release of the IRS 2018 Data Book, which shows declining audits of wealthy taxpayers: 

“Republicans in 2011 launched an all-out assault on the IRS. The result is crippled enforcement and an open invitation to the wealthy to cheat. The audit rate further plummeted when the IRS was tasked with implementing Republicans’ sloppy rewrite of the tax code without sufficient resources. From 2017 to 2018, audits of taxpayers with more than $10 million in income were cut in half. On top of massive tax breaks, wealthy taxpayers with savvy accountants may not even pay what they do owe, knowing that tax avoidance and evasion strategies are unlikely to receive scrutiny. Congress needs to give the IRS the sustained resources it needs to ensure high fliers pay their taxes.” 

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