Wow! IRS Commissioner Rettig Estimates Annual Tax Gap At $1 Trillion!

On April 13, 2021 the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on The 2021 Filing Season and 21st Century IRS.  The sole witness was IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.

There are three takeaways I want to share:

1. The IRS is Overburdened! I encourage you to at least skim Commissioner Rettig’s written testimony. He lays out numerous challenges that that IRS has faced for years and even more due to COVID-19 tax law changes. Consider the three rounds of Economic Impact Payments they had to issue while sheltering in place (each round went to about 160 million individuals), new tax forms for employers to get new refundable payroll tax credits, the need to issue guidance quickly because most changes were almost immediately effective, and the American Rescue Plan enacted March 11 included two changes to 2020 forms millions of which had already been filed!

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Charles Rettig IRS Commissioner

Charles P. Rettig is the 49th Commissioner of the IRS. As Commissioner, Mr. Rettig presides over the nation’s tax system, which collects approximately $3.4 trillion in tax revenue each year. This revenue funds most government operations and public services. Mr. Rettig manages an agency of about 80,000 employees and a budget of approximately $11 billion.

In leading the IRS, Mr. Rettig is focused on improving service to the nation’s taxpayers, balancing appropriate enforcement of the nation’s tax laws while respecting taxpayer rights.

Previously, Mr. Rettig was with the law firm of Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez, P.C., for more than 36 years. In his practice, Mr. Rettig represented thousands of individuals, businesses and corporate taxpayers before the IRS, the Department of Justice Tax Division, federal and state courts and state taxing authorities. These cases involved civil examinations and appeals, criminal investigations and tax collection matters.

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