IRS nabs $1 billion from rich tax cheats while GOP fights to defund it

The Internal Revenue Service beefed up its enforcement efforts last fall—and the push is paying off quickly. The tax-collecting agency announced Thursday that it scooped up more than $1 billion in past-due taxes from millionaires since October, an achievement that the House GOP is still trying to undo.

“With this collection activity, the IRS passed an important milestone in our effort to improve compliance and ensure fairness in the tax system,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “Our increased work in this area means these past-due tax bills from high-end taxpayers are no longer being left on the table, like they were too often in the past.”

The IRS launched its new enforcement efforts on millionaires and big corporations at the end of October 2023, and managed to reap this return in just eight months.