The end of fair taxation. Why will we regret gutting the IRS [View all]

Tax cheats will be able to cheat even more.

Most of us paid no attention to this month’s revelation that, thanks to public servants at the Internal Revenue Service, one of the world’s biggest banks, Credit Suisse, admitted to conspiring with a boatload of mega-wealthy Americans, helping them evade billions in taxes. The bank paid more than $510 million in fines and admitted that its staff helped American tax cheats hide more than $4 billion from the IRS shrouded in 475 secret offshore accounts.

What pours salt in the wound of this bank’s latest admitted crimes is that this was all done after Credit Suisse pleaded guilty in 2014 to the exact same crimes and swore they would never do it again. Back then, they admitted that they had hidden $12 billion owned by 22,000 Americans they helped to evade taxes. In part, our nation suffers from a crushing deficit because the mega-rich, with the help of dirty banks and other advantages, pay only a tiny portion of their fair share.

I want to say that Credit Suisse’s disgusting conduct is an anomaly, but the reality is that it is common practice for many bankers who cater to the world’s wealthiest. More than 120 banks have either pleaded guilty to U.S. charges or otherwise publicly admitted to committing criminal offenses in connection with their facilitating illicit transactions on behalf of extremely wealthy U.S. customers. That means thousands of wealth management professionals have participated in these schemes, which, according to plea agreements and other pleadings, were standard operating procedures at each bank, collectively leading to hundreds of billions in evaded taxes.

Having once worked for the IRS Criminal Division, I know it’s a natural reaction to cringe when you hear “IRS.” However, employees of that agency generate significantly more revenue for our country than the cost of operating the entire agency. Even though defunding the IRS may seem popular, it makes no economic sense. The opinion of The Budget Lab, a non-partisan policy research center, supports that view. They predict that a lack of IRS resources would likely lead to a substantial increase in noncompliance and lost revenue to our Treasury, costing the nation $2.4 trillion in tax revenue over 10 years.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/05/29/end-fair-taxation-why-will-we-regret-gutting-irs-column/