Whitehouse Applauds IRS Plan to Crack Down on Wealthy Tax Cheats, Improve Taxpayer Services

Washington, D.C.—Today, Senator Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement after the IRS unveiled its $80 billion multiyear spending plan to ensure big corporations and wealthy tax dodgers pay what they owe, improve customer service for everyday taxpayers, and close the tax gap.  

“The IRS, starved for resources, has long been unable to keep up with sophisticated wealthy and corporate tax evaders.  Special interests have taken advantage, gaming the system to avoid paying what they owe and creating an unfair two-tiered system that serves the wealthy and well-connected.  With new funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS will finally have what it needs to answer taxpayers’ calls, clear backlogs, and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. This will make our tax system fairer and reduce the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars.

“MAGA Republicans, beholden to their big campaign donors, have made their priorities clear: to protect wealthy tax cheats by repealing this investment, a move CBO found would add $114 billion to the deficit.  They seek every opportunity to undermine this funding, including through the appropriations process. We will not let that happen.”

Senator Whitehouse has been a leading advocate  for ensuring the IRS is adequately funded and can protect taxpayer rights while restoring enforcement on high-income individuals and corporations.  As chair of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight last Congress, he held hearings to shine a spotlight on how offshore tax evaders and special interest dark money groups exploit an outgunned IRS.

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