USNN World News

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released data on its operations showing that, during the 2022 fiscal year, the agency collected close to $5 trillion in taxes while the share of Americans saying that it’s not at all acceptable to cheat on income taxes dropped to six-year low. According to the agency’s newly released Data Book, for fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2022) the IRS collected a total of $4.9 trillion in taxes. At the same time, the IRS issued just over 242 million refunds amounting to nearly $642 billion. Individual and estate and trust income taxes accounted for around $2.8 trillion, while business income taxes amounted to around $476 billion. Additionally, the share of people saying that it’s “not at all acceptable” to cheat on income taxes fell significantly from 2021 to 2022, from 88 percent to 84 percent. That’s the lowest reading in six years. At the same time, the data show that the share of people saying that it’s every American’s civic duty to pay taxes remained unchanged at 93 percent between 2021 and 2022, though agreement has trended slightly downward since 2017. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in an introduction to the Data Book that the agency’s commitment to maintaining a “visible, robust tax enforcement presence” is “strong.” In a press release accompanying the data, the IRS reiterated its pledge to target high-income and high-wealth individuals, complex partnerships, and big corporations with its enforcement efforts. “The IRS has no plans to increase the audit rate for households making less than $400,000,” the agency said in a statement. The agency recently received an $80 billion funding boost over 10 years, with part of the funds going to hiring more staff, including in areas of tax enforcement. This has fueled concerns about an increase in tax audit rates among lower and middle income Americans, which the IRS has said repeatedly would not be the case. The IRS recently released its strategic operating plan (pdf), in which it identified certain transactions as being at high risk of noncompliance and vowed to ramp up enforcement in some areas. Enforcement Crackdown The IRS said in the plan that it would increase enforcement regarding digital asset transactions and certain other types of transactions. “The IRS tracks many known, high-risk issues in noncompliance, such as digital asset transactions, listed transactions, and certain international issues. These issues arise in multiple taxpayer segments, and data analysis show a higher potential for noncompliance,” the IRS wrote. “We will prioritize resources to increase enforcement activities, including criminal investigation as appropriate.” The tax agency stated that it will develop an information platform to support digital asset reporting and analytics tools with the aim of bolstering digital asset compliance. Digital assets include convertible virtual currency, cryptocurrency, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other digital representations of value, according to the IRS. Digital assets are considered property by the IRS, which requires taxpayers to report taxable gains or losses from transactions involving such assets. ‘Soft Notice’ Instead of Tax Audits Although the IRS vowed to ramp up enforcement of certain transactions and said it’s planning to get tough on wealthier tax dodgers, it stated that it would soften its enforcement efforts for ordinary filers. The agency stated that it’s rolling out a new program of “tailored post-filing treatments” to resolve issues and omissions on tax returns to provide an opportunity to remedy them before proceeding to a tax audit. The IRS will use “advanced analytics” to distinguish taxpayers who make good-faith mistakes on their tax returns from those trying to avoid paying what they owe. The program would then notify the honest-but-errant taxpayers in a way that gives them an opportunity to self-correct. “We will address issues identified after filing that require IRS intervention promptly and in ways tailored to the specific circumstances of the taxpayer, such as a soft notice to encourage self-correction instead of an audit,” the agency stated. “Notification could start with a soft notice, for example, and move to an audit if no action is taken or the issue remains unresolved.” The IRS stated that resorting to “less-intrusive treatments” would give taxpayers who want to be compliant a quick and easy way to correct issues that have emerged after they’ve filed their tax returns while helping to prevent “unnecessary audits.” The IRS stated that it hopes, as a result of the new initiative, to see a higher incidence of taxpayers correcting or self-correcting issues and a reduction in repeat noncompliance. The agency also expects the initiative to boost the incidence of taxpayers paying what they owe. $1.5 Billion in Unclaimed Refunds In recent tax season developments, the IRS said last week that over a million Americans have unclaimed tax refunds for the tax year 2019 and face a looming deadline to claim a total of $1.5 billion before it becomes government property. The agency said in a press release that nearly 1.5 million people across the United States have unclaimed refunds because they haven’t filed their tax returns for the 2019 tax year. Normally, the deadline for filing older tax returns falls around the April tax deadline. But for 2019 returns, that window has been extended to July 17 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s a three-year window for taxpayers to file returns and claim refunds. If they don’t file within three years, any money they could have received becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury. The average unclaimed amount for the 2019 tax year is $893 per filer. Some Taxpayers Can Get Bigger Refunds Taxpayers who reported certain state payments related to general welfare and disaster relief as taxable income on their tax returns in many cases did so unnecessarily, the IRS said in a recent press release. Earlier this year, the IRS determined that taxpayers in nearly two dozen states didn’t need to report these special payments in tax year 2022. Taxpayers in the following states don’t need to report any state payments related to general welfare and disaster relief: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Alaska is also in this group, although the payments covered by the IRS notice apply only to special supplemental Energy Relief Payments. In addition, four states are special cases in terms of relief payment taxability because they issued such payments in the form of refunds of state taxes paid: Georgia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Virginia. “For these individuals, state payments will not be included for federal tax purposes if the payment is a refund of state taxes paid and the recipient either claimed the standard deduction for tax year 2022 or itemized their tax year 2022 deductions but did not receive a tax benefit,” the IRS said. Taxpayers who meet the above criteria and needlessly paid tax on special state payments can file an amended return either electronically or in paper form. Electronic filers can opt for a direct deposit, while paper filers can expect a paper check for any resulting refunds.

IRS Raked in Nearly $5 Trillion in Taxes From Americans Last Year

by USNN2020April 17, 2023February 12, 2024

By Tom Ozimek The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released data on its operations showing that, during the 2022 fiscal year, the agency collected close to $5 trillion in taxes while the share of Americans saying that it’s not at all acceptable to cheat on income taxes dropped to six-year low. According to the agency’s […]

National News

ANALYSIS: Trump Coverage Reveals How Media Frames and Excludes

by USNN2020April 14, 2023March 2, 2025

By Nathan Worcester News Analysis It’s been more than a week since the indictment of former President Donald Trump dominated the news cycle. What happened to the story? As of the late afternoon on April 13, the name “Trump” appeared nowhere on the front page of Google News. There and elsewhere, the arrest of 21-year-old […]

Economy

Elon Musk Warns of ‘Tough Sledding’ Ahead for US Economy

by USNN2020April 14, 2023February 27, 2025

By Tom Ozimek Elon Musk predicted that the U.S. economy will be in for a hard slog until at least the spring of 2024, joining a growing list of ominous warnings about America’s economic outlook after a series of recent high-profile bank failures. “Tough sledding until spring next year is my best guess,” the Tesla […]

National News

Trump Spends 7 Hours Answering Questions in Deposition for $250 Million Fraud Lawsuit

by USNN2020April 14, 2023February 21, 2025

By Katabella Roberts Former President Donald Trump spent nearly seven hours on April 13 answering questions during his second deposition as part of a $250 million fraud case bought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump was seen arriving by motorcade at the attorney general’s office in Lower Manhattan just after 9:30 a.m. and left just after 6 […]

National News

Absentee Voting From Abroad Presents Myriad of Fraud Vulnerabilities in US Elections

by USNN2020April 14, 2023December 29, 2024

By Beth Brelje Preliminary election results announced right after an election often include the caveat that officials still need to count the overseas military ballots before finalizing results. The general voting population in the United States promptly ignores that caveat and runs with the preliminary results. To them, overseas votes are an afterthought. But policy […]

National News

Defamation Suit Against Trump Funded by Democrat Megadonor, Lawyer Says

by USNN2020April 14, 2023December 17, 2023

By Gary Bai Former President Donald Trump is questioning the “bias and motive” behind a defamation suit against him by a New York writer after learning the lawsuit is funded by a Democrat megadonor, Hoffman Reid, court filings on April 13 indicate. The development is the latest in the legal saga between Trump and writer […]

National News

Catalytic Converter Conundrum Continues Across the US

by USNN2020April 13, 2023March 30, 2024

By Travis Gillmore Catalytic converter thefts are creating havoc in cities across the country, with thousands of drivers victimized and forced to pay for costly repairs after criminals cut out the devices from under their vehicles. Incidents nationwide are up 1,215 percent between 2019 and 2022, according to data released by the National Insurance Crime […]

Economy

Top Economist Warns Regulators Face ‘Mission Impossible’ Amid Inflation, Recession Risks

by USNN2020April 13, 2023April 13, 2023

By Liam Cosgrove Economist and New York University professor Nouriel Roubini, often referred to as “Doctor Doom” for his pessimistic economic forecasts, said the Federal Reserve is facing “Mission Impossible” as inflation remains persistent and fissures appear in the banking sector. Speaking at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Wednesday, Roubini expressed concerns about the fragility […]

National News

Trump Sues Former Lawyer Michael Cohen for $500 Million

by USNN2020April 12, 2023April 12, 2023

By Gary Bai Former President Donald Trump filed on Wednesday a civil complaint against his former lawyer Michael Cohen for more than $500 million in damages resulting from Cohen’s alleged breach of his attorney-client duties with Trump, unjust enrichment, and other causes, a Trump spokesperson confirmed with The Epoch Times. “The lawsuit and the many […]

National News

Biden Admin Unveils Toughest-Ever Car Emissions Rule in Bid to Force Surge in EV Purchases

by USNN2020April 12, 2023April 12, 2023

By Lawrence Wilson President Joe Biden further accelerated the nation’s switch to electric vehicles by announcing two proposed federal rule changes aimed at reducing greenhouse gasses and other pollutants in motor vehicle emissions. The changes, announced April 12, would affect virtually all gasoline-powered vehicles on U.S. highways, would save consumers an estimated $12,000 in fuel […]

National News

Court Rejects Bragg’s Request for Restraining Order Against Jordan

by USNN2020April 12, 2023February 21, 2025

By Zachary Stieber Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s urgent request to enter a restraining order against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was rejected on April 11, the same day it was filed. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, turned down Bragg’s emergency request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Jordan. “The Court declines […]

National Security & Defense

Washington Braces for Diplomatic Fallout Amid Fears of Further Intel Leaks

by USNN2020April 11, 2023April 11, 2023

By Adam Morrow U.S. federal agencies are scrambling to contain the diplomatic fallout after scores of classified documents pertaining to Ukraine—and other U.S. allies—were leaked online by as-yet-unknown actors. “U.S. officials across the interagency are engaging with allies and partners at high levels over this,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said at an April 10 […]

NATIONAL NEWS

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Wisconsin special election goes to GOP’s Tom Tiffany; Trump takes Nebraska primary

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