Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says a 'shocking' $7 trillion in taxes is going uncollected

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said a "shocking" amount of taxes was going uncollected by the federal government and urged additional action to fetch this money from the wealthiest Americans.

"It's really shocking and distressing to see estimates suggesting that the gap between what we're collecting in taxes on current tax and what we should be collecting - if everybody were paying for taxes that are due - that amounts to over $7 trillion over a decade," Yellen said in an interview with The Atlantic published on Tuesday.

She added: "We're trying to make meaningful steps to close that gap."

Yellen's remarks emphasize the Biden administration's efforts to collect tax revenue from the wealthiest Americans and multinational companies to finance $4 trillion in spending programs to overhaul the economy. President Joe Biden is also increasingly saying he does not want his plans to swell the federal deficit.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-says-a-shocking-dollar7-trillion-in-taxes-is-going-uncollected/ar-BB1glRUZ

[Effete Snob]

1. Although it is not as if the people who did not pay their taxes have it sitting around handy

[roamer65]

2. Time to pay, deadbeats!

[The Magistrate]

3. Scholars In Old China, Sir

Considered evasion of taxes by the gentry a leading sign a dynasty was headed for collapse....


"The poor object to being misgoverned. The rich object to being governed at all."

[dalton99a]

4. Kick

[Bev54]

5. Maybe if they go after the taxes owed by the former guy

it would finally break him financially.

[Ilsa]

6. Of course, the rest of us pay up with every paycheck FIT deduction. nt

[Backseat Driver]

7. Perhaps they ought to have actually kept American taxpayers trained

and working at living wage jobs instead of waging wars overseas, then letting Wall Street make them redundant in so many ways for so many years, the racket of student loans, and not to mention healthcare costs, and relaxed regulations for corporate welfare! CoVid stimuli were great and helped out, but was nothing compared to losses many Americans experienced in what the Personnel (euphemistically re-named HR, lol) called, "nothing personal, just business."

[Cicada]

8. Wow. I foresee a Golden future for accountants.

To properly report, audit and tax income generating 7 trillion in tax is going to take an army of accountants.

[uponit7771]

9. Yearly?!?! Wow !!!

[genxlib]

14. Over the course of a decade

[flying_wahini]

10. Start with Roger Stone, PLEASE.

[NQAS]

11. Huh?

This is a huge number.

More details would be helpful. How much of this is small or relatively small amounts from a large number of people? And how much is large amounts from a smaller number of ultra rich.

If I don't pay my taxes, the IRS will put a lien on me. With this, I can't get loans, credit, etc. Maybe the wealthy don't really care, or have set themselves up that a lien here or there means nothing. I have no idea. But you're the fucking tax man. Go and collect the fucking taxes.

Interest and penalties. These are, of course, fundamentally meaningless to the ultra wealthy. But they are substantial for most others. So here's a suggestion. Stop all interest and penalties for amounts owed that are under a particular amount, say, $75,000. And allow payment plans that extend beyond a couple of years. Sure, it sucks to be paying taxes forever and ever, but at least the payment of those taxes will make an actual dent in the amount owed when interest and penalties are taken out of the picture.

Over that particular amount, factor in the interest and penalties.

And if the bulk of the amount owed are from the ultra wealthy, might I humbly suggest that the IRS goes after these scofflaws first. Sure, the lower income groups are easier game. After all, liens mean something to them. But going after the low-hanging fruit is lazy and not as productive as going after the wealthy.

[maxsolomon]

12. The GOP have deliberately underfunded the IRS

to cripple their enforcement capacity.

Meantime, Former Guy sits on a 75 million dollar 2011 tax refund and the Congressional JCOT does jack shit about reviewing it, FOR YEARS.

https://www.jct.gov/about-us/committee-members/

[Ferrets are Cool]

13. I just wish the richest had to pay the same % that I do.

Why is that too much to ask for?

[smirkymonkey]

15. K&R

[dlk]

16. I heard this earlier, that Republicans have already "defunded the police"

By seriously underfunding the IRS, our financial police, Republicans have been “defunding the police” for years, letting wealthy criminals get away with their tax crimes.