Tax Fraud: The Federal Government Loses an Estimated $116 Billion to $304 Billion Annually

Filed 1h ago · Via GAO · The Buffoon Desk

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Hamster March

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Hannes Grobe · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

GAO estimates the federal government loses between $116 billion and $304 billion annually to tax fraud, roughly 2 to 6 percent of what's owed, based on IRS data from 2018 through 2024. The losses come from underpayment, deliberate nonpayment, identity theft refund schemes, and activity hidden in the shadow economy.

IRS does run fraud-detection efforts — its Return Review Program reportedly blocked $88 billion in fraudulent refunds over the same period, and auditors are trained to flag fraud indicators. But GAO found the agency has no overarching antifraud strategy and no single office in charge of coordinating antifraud work across the agency.

GAO recommended IRS develop that strategy and designate a lead antifraud entity. IRS ‘partially agreed’ with both recommendations, which GAO says isn't good enough.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

An agency can catch $88 billion in bad refunds with one program and still not have gotten around to writing down who's in charge of the whole fraud problem. That's like a farmer bragging about mending one fence post while three hundred billion dollars' worth of cattle wander out the open gate down the road. Partially agreeing to fix that is the bureaucratic version of saying you'll get to it.

Source: Read the original at GAO → Scored: Hamster March · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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