You Can’t Tax the Rich Without the IRS

The hot policy in Democratic circles these days is raising taxes on the rich. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has a plan to tax “ultramillionaires,” as she calls them. Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to expand the estate tax. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has floated raising the top income tax rate to 70 percent for those making over $10 million a year.

But before this country raises taxes, it should grapple with something much more prosaic but equally important for tackling inequality: saving the Internal Revenue Service.

Already, wealthy people and corporations easily get around today’s rules. However tough any new laws might seem, they’d soon be undercut.

View the complete May 4 article by Jesse Eisinger and Paul Kiel on the National Memo website here.