Kaine, Warner Join Colleagues in Introducing Bill to Reverse Republican IRS Cuts, Crack Down on Wealthy Tax Cheats

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner (both D-VA), joined Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Angus King (I-ME), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and 22 of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Stop Corporations and High Earners from Avoiding Taxes and Enforce the Rules Strictly (Stop CHEATERS) Act, legislation to provide additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to strengthen and expand tax collection services and systems and crack down on tax avoidance by the wealthy.

"The Trump Administration's cuts to the IRS have made it harder for working Americans to get help with their taxes and easier for wealthy tax cheats to get away with not paying their fair share-which is unfair to law-abiding taxpayers and reduces funding for critical programs that support American families," said Kaine. "I'm glad to be introducing this common-sense legislation with my colleagues to restore and expand IRS funding, allowing the agency to provide the level of customer service that Americans deserve and ensure that wealthy Americans don't get to evade taxes simply because they can hire expensive lawyers."

"The administration and Congressional Republicans have allowed the ultra-wealthy to evade taxes by cutting funding to the IRS," said Warner. "I'm proud to cosponsor this bill to give the IRS the resources it needs to enforce tax laws, make sure the richest Americans pay what they owe, and raise considerable revenue to invest in our country."

Before receiving historic funding through the Inflation Reduction Act, which Warner and Kaine helped pass, the IRS suffered decades of chronic underfunding, causing the agency to disproportionately audit lower-income earners. It is estimated that as a result, corporations and high-income individuals with access to high-level accountants have been able to evade the taxes they owe, contributing to $1 trillion in lost revenue. The Stop CHEATERS Act would restore and revitalize the IRS by allocating over $83 billion to the IRS over the next decade for tax enforcement focused on high-income tax evasion, technology operations support, systems modernization, and taxpayer services such as free taxpayer assistance. The Budget Lab at Yale estimates this bill would raise about $998 billion in net revenue over a 10-year period. For every dollar this bill invests, the federal government will gain approximately $13 in gross revenue.

More specifically, the Stop CHEATERS Act would:

1. Restore and revitalize the IRS and ensure it is properly funded by providing over $83 billion in mandatory funding through Fiscal Year 2031, reversing both the rescissions to IRA funding and discretionary spending cuts to the IRS budget. This funding would be divided into four spending buckets and provide:
2. 1. $45.6 billion for Enforcement to audit wealthy taxpayers and large corporations, pursue criminal investigations, and prevent financial crimes. The bill establishes a ramp-up period, increasing funding each year, allowing the IRS to gradually rebuild enforcement operations.
   2. $25.4 billion for Technology and Operations Support to overhaul outdated technology and increase the agency's capacity to detect fraud and noncompliance.
   3. $3.1 billion for Business Systems Modernization to improve, operate, and maintain internal systems.
   4. $9.6 billion for Taxpayer Services to allow for pre-filing assistance and education, taxpayer advocacy services, and other forms of free taxpayer assistance.
3. Instruct the IRS Commissioner to issue a report to Congress on the agency's plan to shift auditing and enforcement resources toward high-income individuals and large corporations, a directive first launched under Commissioner Werfel in 2024. In addition, the plan must include efforts to recruit and retain skilled auditors for high-income individuals and large corporations that typically have complicated tax situations. The Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration would be required to issue a report on the plan's effectiveness.

The legislation is cosponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

The Stop CHEATERS Act is supported by Third Way, Progressive Policy Institute, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, National Treasury Employees Union, American Federation of Teachers, SEIU, AFSCME, Americans for Tax Fairness, Americans for Financial Reform, Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance, Tax the Greedy Billionaires, Groundwork Action, Take on Wall Street, Public Citizen, Patriotic Millionaires, P Street, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Full text of the legislation is available here.

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