The return of the tax gap hype

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : As several IRS reports and task forces have revealed, when it comes to closing the tax gap, enforcement is the costliest option and delivers only limited revenue.
47% : Common ones are praise for the magical ability of government spending to help pay for itself during recessions and hand-wringing over the myth of middle-class stagnation.
46% : In 2006, this gap was $450 billion, up from $255 billion in 2001, and around 15% of taxes owed.
45% : In fact, former U.S. Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson (who headed a government agency that helps people solve problems with the IRS) said in a 2011 Senate testimony that trying to reduce the tax gap by focusing narrowly on enforcement "can lead to reactionary laws, procedures, and enforcement actions that actually reduce overall revenue, particularly if they do not address the reasons for the noncompliance or if they unnecessarily burden or alienate the vast majority of taxpayers who are trying to comply."
44% : According to the Department of the Treasury, the tax gap was $600 billion in 2019, and it projected to roughly 15% of taxes owed over the following decade.
44% : Cut taxes until there is less incentive to evade the taxman.
43% : But increasing taxes is hard, so Democrats are turning their attention to the difference between taxes owed and taxes collected.

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