Latest news with #InternalRevenueSystem
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Larry Summers says DOGE is going to end in a 'disastrous failure'
Larry Summers said on the All-In Podcast that DOGE is wreaking havoc on US institutions. He pointed to the administration's targeting of the Internal Revenue System. The former treasury secretary said the outcome could put the US into further debt. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said DOGE will end in a "disastrous failure," possibly leading the US into a deeper deficit. Summers said on an episode of the All-In Podcast posted on Friday that he generally agrees that the US government could be more efficient. "I think we need much more reform," he said, agreeing with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, another guest on the show. "I think Democrats have allowed themselves excessively to become hostage to particular groups, particular traditional concerns, and have lost touch in important ways with the American mainstream." Summers said, however, that the current administration and DOGE are wreaking havoc on American institutions and surmised that they would fail to solve the problems they're trying to address, such as the national debt. "My best judgment is that this project is going to end in disastrous failure despite having put its finger on some important concerns and issues," he said. "Of course, there should be much more aggressive reform of the government than there is. But that does not excuse or mean that it is likely to work out well for some of the mindless savagery that the DOGE is bring to traditional American institutions." He pointed to the White House's targeting of the Internal Revenue System. In February, the administration moved to slash the IRS's workforce and, more recently, gave employees deferred resignations and buyout offers. The economist said that attacking the tax collection agency could result in a revenue loss exceeding any savings that DOGE realized. "We are firing, en masse, people whose job it is to audit people like you," Summers said to All-In Podcast host Chamath Palihapitiya, who pushed back on the economist's argument. "And the result of that is that we are losing revenue directly." Paliphaitiya responded that he gets automatically audited yearly and that the government owed him $1,000 in 2024. That suggests the venture capitalist is fairly careful with his tax returns, considering the multiple revenue streams he may have. Summers said he did not doubt Paliphaitiya's "personal integrity" but added that "less than a quarter of people with incomes over $10 million are audited." Summers has previously criticized the Trump administration's aggressive approach to economic reform. On X, he called President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs highly costly and "masochistic." "This is dangerous work with a sledgehammer on a pretty sensitive machine — which is the global economy — that's having really serious consequences," Summers said on the podcast. A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider
Washington Post
18-02-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
DOGE wants access to your tax data. Why?
Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service sparked alarm over the weekend, when a senior DOGE official requested access to the Internal Revenue System's detailed database featuring financial information about every taxpayer, business and nonprofit in the country. Host Martine Powers speaks with economics correspondent Jacob Bogage about how this could affect millions of American taxpayers. Today's show was produced by Ariel Plotnick, with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sam Bair. Thanks also to Mike Madden. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ways and Means chair calls for de-weaponization, overhaul of IRS after 'lawless' behavior
FIRST ON FOX: House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith is calling for a complete overhaul of the Internal Revenue System, demanding the agency be de-weaponized, and telling Fox News Digital that "business as usual at the Irs is unacceptable." Smith, R-Mo., wrote a letter to Irs Acting Commissioner Douglas O'Donnell on Thursday, calling for ongoing oversight of the agency to ensure it takes steps to "rebuild trust" with Americans after "lawless and politically motivated behavior." House Gop Demands 'Immediate Action' On Alleged Retaliation Against Irs Whistleblowers "The story of the last two years at the IRS is one of both failure and outright weaponization of the agency driven in part by the Democrats' decision to prioritize hiring 87,000 new IRS agents to audit working families over providing basic customer services," Smith told Fox News Digital. "There are too many examples of problems at the IRS to count." In the letter, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, Smith lays out concerns at the agency, including its alleged retaliation against the two IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who brought claims of corruption and preferential treatment for Hunter Biden. Smith also pointed to the IRS' support for $80 billion in mandatory funding that prioritized "aggressive audits over customer service," the "failure to take aggressive action against tax-exempt organizations that have caused antisemitic chaos on college campuses, in American cities, and those that may be supporting terrorism" and more. Read On The Fox News App "Aggressive oversight of the IRS continues to be a top priority for the Committee, and the election results made it clear that the American people are looking for accountability," Smith wrote. "President Trump has shown in his first three weeks that he meant what he said during the presidential campaign." House Gop Probes Whether Special Counsel Office Helped Retaliate Against Hunter Biden Whistleblowers Smith said the government "has not been working effectively for the American people, and it needs to change." "We will be watching closely to make certain that the IRS timely complies with all laws, executive orders, direction from the secretary of the Treasury, and requests from the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance," Smith said. Smith told Fox News Digital that the agency has "acted outside its authority by refusing to apply the law when it hurts Democrats, like in the case of delaying the unpopular $600 Venmo reporting law, and by promoting Democrat interests without authorization, like when it turned a tiny feasibility study into a massive Direct File program costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars." "We know that the IRS has retaliated against the two brave investigators that blew the whistle on preferential treatment for Hunter Biden," Smith said, pointing to Shapley and Ziegler. "Business as usual at the IRS is unacceptable," Smith told Fox News Digital. "The acting commissioner needs to clean things up quickly to meet the expectations of the committee and the American people have of the agency."Original article source: Ways and Means chair calls for de-weaponization, overhaul of IRS after 'lawless' behavior
Fox News
13-02-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Ways and Means chair calls for de-weaponization, overhaul of IRS after 'lawless' behavior
FIRST ON FOX: House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith is calling for a complete overhaul of the Internal Revenue System, demanding the agency be de-weaponized, and telling Fox News Digital that "business as usual at the IRS is unacceptable." Smith, R-Mo., wrote a letter to IRS Acting Commissioner Douglas O'Donnell on Thursday, calling for ongoing oversight of the agency to ensure it takes steps to "rebuild trust" with Americans after "lawless and politically motivated behavior." "The story of the last two years at the IRS is one of both failure and outright weaponization of the agency driven in part by the Democrats' decision to prioritize hiring 87,000 new IRS agents to audit working families over providing basic customer services," Smith told Fox News Digital. "There are too many examples of problems at the IRS to count." In the letter, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, Smith lays out concerns at the agency, including its alleged retaliation against the two IRS whistleblowers who brought claims of corruption and preferential treatment for Hunter Biden — Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. Smith also pointed to the IRS's support for $80 billion in mandatory funding that prioritized "aggressive audits over customer service," the "failure to take aggressive action against tax-exempt organizations that have caused antisemitic chaos on college campuses, in American cities, and those that may be supporting terrorism" and more. "Aggressive oversight of the IRS continues to be a top priority for the Committee, and the election results made it clear that the American people are looking for accountability," Smith wrote. "President Trump has shown in his first three weeks that he meant what he said during the presidential campaign." Smith said the government "has not been working effectively for the American people, and it needs to change." "We will be watching closely to make certain that the IRS timely complies with all laws, executive orders, direction from the secretary of the Treasury, and requests from the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance," Smith said. Smith told Fox News Digital that the agency has "acted outside its authority by refusing to apply the law when it hurts Democrats, like in the case of delaying the unpopular $600 Venmo reporting law, and by promoting Democrat interests without authorization, like when it turned a tiny feasibility study into a massive Direct File program costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars." "We know that the IRS has retaliated against the two brave investigators that blew the whistle on preferential treatment for Hunter Biden," Smith said, pointing to Shapley and Ziegler. "Business as usual at the IRS is unacceptable," Smith told Fox News Digital. "The acting commissioner needs to clean things up quickly to meet the expectations of the committee and the American people have of the agency."
