IRS Commish to Rich Tax Cheats: Pay Up

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel has a message for high-wealth tax cheats who are shorting the government: Pay your fair share so "others aren't shouldering the burden of funding our government." Werfel, who hits the one-year mark at the helm of the IRS this month, said in a wide-ranging interview with the AP that the agency will expand its pursuit of high-wealth tax dodgers with new initiatives in the coming months and is using tools like artificial intelligence to ferret out abuses and taking the fight to sophisticated scammers.

Major new initiatives in recent months have included an aggressive pursuit of high-wealth earners who don't pay their full tax obligations, such as people who improperly deduct personal flights on corporate jets and those who just don't file at all. The private jets, in particular, are a place where "many corporations are sloppy with their bookkeeping," Werfel said. He noted that the agency's crackdown "sets the tone for the American people" that everyone has to pay what's due. Werfel said the agency also has put new focus on "being accessible, answering the phones, keeping our walking centers open, and updating our website so that people can do things more with the IRS without ever leaving their smartphone or their tablet."

The agency also is piloting a program for people to file their taxes directly to the agency without the help, or cost, of private commercial software. Werfel said more than 50,000 people in 12 states have started using the new Direct File system to complete their taxes. The free online tool is available for people with very simple W-2s and who claim a standard deduction for their federal income taxes. Werfel's goal is to repair the agency's image as an outdated and maligned tax collector—a tall order for a federal agency that even he has referred to as "iconically unpopular" with the American public. "We have some myth-busting to do," Werfel said. He also has a thought for ordinary taxpayers putting off the inevitable, with less than a month left in tax-filing season: "Get it done." (And double-check your work.) More here. (More IRS stories.)