‘Audit the Ultra-Rich' It is an act of justice...

I find it interesting that the IRS can actually reach in to your bank account and take back what they're owed under existing law. If Janet Yellen already knows where all this money is I'm sure the IRS does too. So why haven't they? If they actually had numbers and numbers they would have done it.

What Yellen and Khanna are doing is posturing. They use their status to throw out some BS. You fall for it. And then you demand that people like Khanna go out and raise taxes based on your erroneous belief that this was just about collecting taxes already owed. Whatever loop holes are in the tax code were put their on purpose by members of Congress.

If it were actual tax evasion the IRS would seize the assets under their already very extensive powers. Doubt me? File some bullshit IRS form alleging you deserve a bunch of money back and see what happens for yourself.

Should have been names and numbers. Now the dirty secret is out why Sgtsnowman is NOT an writer!

China already has a system where, if you jaywalk, CCTV facial recognition can identify you and immediately take a fine out of your bank account. Is that a world you want to live in ? Some AI system determines you’ve done something the government disapproves of and takes your money. Because giving power to some bureaucrat, or computer, to take my money without legal process scares the shit out of me.

Please keep in mind, these are estimates, nothing more. Yes, there are tax cheats. The IRS does a credible job of finding them. Is it in the neighborhood of $750 billion per year. That is slightly less than 20% of the annual revenue of the federal government. Should the IRS do better? I think so. Are they mising 20% of the revenue? I am not convinced. Not by an estimate.

Whenever a state, or the federal government, makes revenue estimates like this, it is a static calculation. They assume people will keep doing the same thing even if the tax law changes. People can move. They can move their money. They can change their investments. They can even choose to stop working if the tax burden gets ridiculous.

It’s always the same thing. Tax rates increase. People change their behavior. No additional tax revenue is collected.

In Italy and Greece, the tax rates are so high that the national obsession is tax avoidance. Anyone who pays taxes is considered an idiot. Even doctors and lawyers find ways to avoid paying any taxes.

The solution is not high tax rates, which simply drives the economy underground. The solution is to keep rates at a reasonable level, about 20%, and apply it to all types of income. At that rate, most people won’t feel the need for legal, and illegal, schemes for avoiding taxes. They’ll simply pay it.