California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna introduced a bill that seeks to boost tax revenues by requiring the IRS to dramatically step up audits on wealthy individuals and corporations, Business Insider reports.
The Stop Corporations and Higher Earners from Avoiding Taxes and Enforce Rules Strictly (CHEATERS) Act would require the IRS to audit 95% of companies with at least $20 billion in assets each year and audit 50% of individuals who earn at least $10 million.
In 2018, the IRS audited just 0.03% of individuals who earned more than $10 million.
The bill would provide the IRS with $100 billion in additional funding.
Khanna predicted the bill could raise an additional $1.2 trillion in tax revenue over the next decade.
Bill would overhaul IRS:
Khanna’s bill would also provide $10 billion to upgrade the technology used by the cash-strapped agency.
The legislation would also require individuals who earn more than $400,000 to report income that was not previously disclosed.
Under the bill, the IRS would have to regularly provide updates to Congress on their auditing progress.
It would also step up fines on millionaires who report false information to the IRS.
Bill comes in response to Gamestop scandal:
The legislation is part of a bill Khanna introduced in response to the GameStop stock trading scandal that Congress is investigating.
“We know our tax system is broken, and it’s long past time we start fixing it,” he said in a statement. “Today’s hearing is just one example among thousands of the ways in which the ultra-wealthy play by different rules than the rest of us. Wall Street has been able to act like high rolling gamblers with almost zero consequences for far too long. Right now, the wealthiest one percent are responsible for roughly 70 percent of the ‘tax gap’—the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid. It’s time every American pay their fair share.”
