A scandal is brewing at the IRS after confidential tax information belonging to hundreds of Americans, who happen to be some of the richest in the country, has been released and published.
ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits.
ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits. few specifics about individuals ever emerge in public. Tax information is among the most zealously guarded secrets in the federal government. ProPublica has decided to reveal individual tax information of some of the wealthiest Americans because it is only by seeing specifics that the public can understand the realities of the country’s tax system.
It is illegal for the IRS to expose confidential tax information to the public. The IRS Taxpayer Bill of Rights states, "Taxpayers have the right to expect that any information they provide to the IRS will not be disclosed unless authorized by the taxpayer or by law. Taxpayers have the right to expect appropriate action will be taken against employees, return preparers, and others who wrongfully use or disclose taxpayer return information."
It is unclear how ProPublica got the information, but it was either leaked from inside the agency or hacked. The timing is also suspicious given President Joe Biden's efforts to get Democrats on Capitol Hill onboard with new tax hikes.
The story should be that Biden's IRS will leak private tax records of individuals to try and increase support for his tax hike agenda
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) June 8, 2021
Other than journos who always take the standard deduction, no one is surprised that only income is taxed, not net worth
IRS illegally leaking confidential taxpayer information to a liberal nonprofit in an attempt to build support for Biden tax hikes should be the lead story everywhere. Are they ever going to clean up that rat's nest?
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) June 8, 2021
And hey, who cares about an IRS security breach when you can own the wealthy?
— Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) June 8, 2021