The IRS Gloats About Its Successful Efforts to Soak the Rich

“Be thankful I don't take it all / 'Cause I'm the taxman.” —The Beatles, “Taxman”

Remember when the Democrats handed $80 billion to the IRS when they passed the hilariously named “Inflation Reduction Act”? Congress shaved a quarter of that off as part of the debt ceiling deal, but that still means that taxpayers forked over $60 billion to the taxman.

What do we have to show for giving tens of billions of our hard-earned money to the IRS? Left-wing fever dream press releases like the one that the IRS trotted out on Thursday:

As part of continuing compliance efforts under the Inflation Reduction Act, the Internal Revenue Service today announced the agency has surpassed the $1 billion mark in collections from high-wealth taxpayers with past-due taxes.
As part of larger efforts taking place, the IRS has stepped up activity specifically on 1,600 individuals whose incomes were more than $1 million per year and who each owed the IRS more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt. Since last fall, this IRS compliance effort has generated more than $1 billion in collections from this group, with work continuing in this area.

You can just imagine the bony, pointing fingers and spittle flying from the lips of leftists as they shout, “It’s about time the rich paid their fair share!”

Not so fast. Our $60 billion, umm, investment isn’t exactly filling the federal coffers. Reason’s Eric Boehm points out that “the yearlong campaign has generated enough cash to fund the federal government for…about 90 minutes.”

That didn't stop the IRS from gloating.

“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,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel.

And it’s all thanks to the Biden administration’s ridiculous expansion of government. Werfel (who is most decidedly not 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel) added, “Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act is reversing a decade-long decline in our compliance work, including increasing our compliance work involving the wealthiest individuals and groups with tax issues. The collection results achieved in less than a year reveal the magnitude of what can be achieved over the long run as our Inflation Reduction enforcement continues to ramp up in the months ahead.”

You’d better believe that far-left outlets are spiking the football.

“It is a historic milestone as President Biden and congressional Democrats increased funding for the IRS to go after wealthy people who weren’t paying their fair share and the result has been a billion dollars in recovered funds,” crows Jason Easley at PoliticusUSA.

The AP’s Fatima Hussein calls the announcement “a milestone meant to showcase how the agency is making use of the money it received as part of the Biden administration’s signature climate, health care, and tax package signed into law in 2022.”

Here's the thing: if these people are legitimately cheating on their taxes, then someone needs to hold them accountable. But we shouldn’t rejoice too much at the IRS’s efforts to soak the rich. The tax collectors haven’t earned their keep yet, so they won’t stop at “high-end taxpayers.”

Once the IRS has wrung as much out of the rich as much as it can, it’s on to the middle class and the poor. One math error, one innocent mistake with a receipt, one donation too many, and Werfel’s minions are heading your way. And it’s all because the agency’s “Inflation Reduction enforcement continues to ramp up in the months ahead.”

Boehm makes a good point when he writes, “Sending the IRS to dig through the proverbial couch cushions of the wealthy—and probably a lot of less-than-wealthy folks too—will only create a lot of headaches for Americans who almost certainly didn't intend to underpay their tax bills and give the IRS the occasional opportunity to issue press releases bragging about how well it is doing its job.”

Best believe that the IRS will make sure everyone pays his or her “fair share,” not just the rich. So watch your backs, too, lefties.