lack of audits on president trump triggers an investigation.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
should the president and vice president of the united states be a little above the law, a little privileged, a little exempt from audits of tax returns?
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the answer would seem obvious. and while these top-level executives aren’t explicitly exempt, they do wield power over the internal revenue service, and the president signs into law bills that could affect his or her personal financial situations. and in today’s almost even split of the senate, the vice president often casts a deciding vote on such bills.
no other americans have such powers.
for that reason, the internal revenue manual, a compilation of guidelines for irs employees, requires a mandatory examination of income tax returns filed by the president and vice president. the requirement, however, is not codified in the internal revenue code.
does the lack of codified law mean that mandatory examinations are optional?
something fishy
in 1977, the irs formalized procedures for processing individual tax returns of presidents and vice presidents. they were to be subject to mandatory audit examination and receiving normal pipeline processing.
nonetheless, for reasons as yet unexplained, president trump was designated for a mandatory audit only once during tax years 2015 through 2020, inclusive, and that one time, for 2016, was never completed.
the house ways and means committee smelled something fishy. it launched an investigation and issued a report and recommendation just before christmas of 2022.
the report, “report on the internal revenue service’s mandatory audit program under the prior administration (2017-2020),” opened with a reminder of the importance of a fair tax regime:
“unlike many nations, we operate a largely voluntary tax compliance system, supported by oversight and auditing. that means that our revenue system – and hence our democracy – hinge on public faith that our tax laws are administered fairly and without favor … the public must have confidence that our tax laws apply evenly and justly to all, regardless of power or position.”
complexity was a problem
power and position weren’t the only factors that might have driven the sudden lack of presidential audits. complexity was also a problem. an internal irs memo stated, “with over 400 flow-through returns reported on form 1040, it is not possible to obtain the resources available to examine all potential issues.”
among the issues that the irs thought warranted examination were:
- questionable charitable contributions
- unclear net operating loss carryover
- dubious unreimbursed partnership/s corporation expenses
- suspicious related party loans
- dodgy cost of goods sold deduction by djt holdings
- inexplicable changes in administration expenses of lfb acquisition llc
recommendations
concerned that perceptions of presidential privilege might discourage other taxpayers from paying their fair share, the committee made three recommendations:
- congress should codify the mandatory audit program to require the irs to conduct mandatory audits while a president is in office and publicly disclose related returns and return information;
- the irs should revise the manual procedures related to the mandatory examination of a president; and
- the irs should provide adequate and appropriate staffing and resources necessary for a full and timely audit of the president and prescribe that the audit team be comprised of two senior irs agents, a partnership specialist, a foreign specialist and a financial products specialist.