American corporations paid the lowest share of the federal tax revenue in six decades last year, according to IRS data released Monday.
American corporations paid just 7.6 percent of taxes collected last year, the lowest share since at least 1960, while most of the tax burden fell on individuals. About 57 percent came from income taxes while another 33 percent came from employment taxes.
“After adjusting for refunds, the share may be even lower,” Bloomberg reported. “Businesses got more than $60 billion back from the IRS, lowering the net collection amount to $202.7 billion.”
IRS stops auditing the super-rich:
While the Trump tax cuts lowered the tax burden for corporations while shifting the burden to individuals, the IRS has also internally largely stopped auditing the richest Americans earning $10 million or more while focusing their enforcement efforts on the working poor who rely on the Earned Income Tax Credit.
According to the Wall Street Journal, just 6.6 percent of households with incomes over $10 million were audited in 2018. That number is way down from 14.5 percent in 2017, 18.8 percent in 2016, and 34.7 percent in 2015.
Last year, an investigation by ProPublica and The Atlantic found that the IRS has largely turned to auditing those who rely on the earned income tax credit. The average EITC recipient earns less than $20,000.
About 36 percent of IRS audits targeted EITC recipients in 2017.
“The undermining of the I.R.S.’s enforcement capability coincides nicely with the Republican playbook: Enrich wealthy individuals and corporations with tax giveaways that balloon the deficit, justifying spending cuts for health care, education and infrastructure, then amplify the process by not holding high-end taxpayers accountable for the amounts they owe,” The New York Times editorial board wrote.
