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Wednesday, October 21st, 2020

IRS: Sorry, but It’s Just Easier and Cheaper to Audit the Poor

Author:     Paul Kiel
Source:     ProPublica
Publication Date:     Oct. 2, 2019, 2:47 p.m. EDT
 Link: IRS: Sorry, but It’s Just Easier and Cheaper to Audit the Poor
Stephan:   Every aspect of the American economy is rigged to favor the rich and milk the poor. Even tax auditing is biased in this way. Here is the story.
IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig at the Capitol on May 15, 2019, in Washington. Rettig says increasing audit rates of the wealthy depends on whether the IRS budget grows.  Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty

The IRS audits the working poor at about the same rate as the wealthiest 1%. Now, in response to questions from a U.S. senator, the IRS has acknowledged that’s true but professes it can’t change anything unless it is given more money.

ProPublica reported the disproportionate audit focus on lower-income families in April. Lawmakers confronted IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig about the emphasis, citing our stories, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Rettig for a plan to fix the imbalance. Rettig readily agreed.

Last month, Rettig replied with a report, but it said the IRS has no plan and won’t have one until Congress agrees to restore the funding it slashed from the agency over the past nine years — something lawmakers have shown little inclination to do.

On the one hand, the IRS said, auditing poor taxpayers is a lot easier: The agency uses relatively low-level employees to audit returns for low-income taxpayers […]

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