The IRS states that it has made great strides toward collecting unpaid taxes from millionaires; from only 100 people, an additional $122 million has been recovered. The Inflation Reduction Act gave the IRS much-needed funding, allowing it to step up its enforcement actions against higher-income taxpayers who evade taxes. Cases involving flagrant attempts at evasion have previously been settled by the organization.
One such instance included a former CEO who, after misrepresenting personal costs as business expenses and using the money to build a 51,000 square foot house, was sentenced to one year in jail and fined $15 million. Among the extravagant additions were sports courts, an outdoor pool, a pool house, and expensive cars.
In a another instance, a restaurant owner was caught embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars for gambling and personal use while filing fraudulent tax returns. Furthermore, a fraudster used $5 million in COVID-relief loans for a fictitious company, and the money was used to buy expensive automobiles.
Individuals who make more than $1 million and owe more than $250,000 in taxes are the focus of the IRS. Nearly 1,000 of these taxpayers, including 58 who made at least $10 million, were anticipated to owing more than $34 billion as of May 2023. The organization has been vigorously pursuing these cases and has been able to get from high incomes around $160 million in total. The IRS intends to step up its efforts by improving its corporate compliance program and closely examining how overseas companies declare their revenues in the United States.
Apart from enforcing the law, the IRS is striving to enhance its taxpayer support through personnel increases, digital tool introductions, and the digitization of documentation to expedite operations, both in physical facilities and online.
