rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/tell-congress-reject-irs-funding-cuts-and-protect-direct-file?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-tell-congress-reject-irs-funding-cuts-and-protect-direct-file' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> CHN Action https://actionnetwork.org/groups/coalition-on-human-needs https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg The House FY 2025 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) spending bill that was introduced by House Republicans would slash the IRS’s regular annual funding to levels not seen since the early 2000’s. The House proposal cuts $350 million from IRS operations, which funds core taxpayer services. It would cut $2 billion from enforcement, a move that would prevent the IRS from continuing its success in recouping back taxes from wealthy tax cheats―as of this month, as a result of the historic 2022 investment in the IRS, the agency has collected $1 billion in back taxes owed by the wealthy. In fact, for every dollar invested in cracking down on wealthy tax cheats, it results in a $22 return. Before the Inflation Reduction Act, deep budget cuts had left the IRS without the enforcement needed to go after wealthy tax cheats. As a result, African-American taxpayers had been three times more likely to be audited by the IRS than any other group of taxpayers―including ultra-wealthy millionaires and billionaires. In fact, the most audited county in the United States is Humphreys County, Mississippi―a county of 7,551 people that’s 75% Black and where the per capita income is $21,861. In a cruel twist of fate, the main reason these communities are audited at such high rates is because they’re low-income, with many receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit available to low-wage workers―and this is exactly what Congressional Republicans want. By ensuring the IRS did not have adequate funding, some in Congress appear perfectly happy for their wealthy tax cheat donors to continue to avoid paying their fair share in taxes (since their tax returns were far more complicated to review) while low-income people are audited at disproportionate rates. At the same time, House Republicans are building support for a bill that would block the implementation of the IRS’s new Direct File program―a program that saved more than 140,000 U.S. taxpayers over $5.6 million in tax preparation fees this year and was able to get them over $90 million in tax refunds. We can’t allow lawmakers to keep bending the rules in order to allow their wealthy tax cheat donors off the hook, while the majority of Americans suffer. Click “Start Writing” to send a direct message to your senators and representative today. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-reject-irs-funding-cuts-and-protect-direct-file