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Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025
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Trump's attacks on the IRS will encourage wealthy tax cheats
By Ryan Teague Beckwith
President Donald Trump wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service. In the meantime, he's doing his best to undermine it — and the main beneficiaries will be wealthy tax cheats.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has attempted to fire thousands of recently hired IRS workers, cut billions from its budget and slashed the unit that specifically audits billionaires and the ultrawealthy. Trump has said (inaccurately) that tariffs could replace the income tax, while billionaire federal contractor Elon Musk has even bragged (inaccurately) about "deleting" a government program that helps Americans prepare and file their tax returns electronically.
The message from Washington is clear: The IRS is on the outs.
That may already be emboldening some would-be tax cheats as they sit down to prepare their taxes today. And the problem will only get worse in the future. "Tax cheating is highly contagious," former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers warned in a post on X. Indeed, one study found that simply telling taxpayers that most people don't cheat on their taxes increased the amount of income they reported.
This is a preview of Ryan Teague Beckwith's latest article. Read the full column here.
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