Audio Archive -- Audio recordings of EPI press conferences, seminars, and events.
Tax Enforcement In Crisis
A national news forum
Tuesday, April 12, 2005, 9:30 AM (EDT)
National Press Club, Washington, D.C.
If taxpayers run true to form this year, the combined total they pay in taxes will be significantly less than what they actually owe. The majority of honest taxpayers are carrying a significant burden for those who are not paying their full share. In fact, tax experts estimate that the total of all unpaid individual and corporate federal taxes now runs to over $300 billion per year. About 15% of what is owed in taxes — one dollar out of every six — is not paid “voluntarily and timely” as the law requires.
With the gap between federal revenues and expenditures rapidly widening, the failure to enforce the laws contributes significantly to the deepening federal budget crisis.
The Economic Policy Institute convened a panel of experts, including former IRS Commissioners, to examine this problem and possible solutions at a tax week news forum. Two new reports will be released at the forum, which is open to the media and others interested in issues of taxation and budget.
Panelists:
Donald C. Alexander, Partner, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld; former Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service (Nixon Administration)
Sheldon S. Cohen, Senior Counsel, Morgan Lewis; former Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service (Johnson Administration)
Eric Toder, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute; former director, Office of Research, Internal Revenue Service
Henry J. Aaron, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, the Bruce and Virginia MacLaury Chair, the Brookings Institution
Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Irwin I. Cohn Professor of Law, University of Michigan
Robert S. McIntyre, Director, Citizens for Tax Justice
Max B. Sawicky, Economist, Economic Policy Institute
New Reports:
Do-it-yourself tax cuts: The crisis in U.S. tax enforcement by Max B. Sawicky, Economic Policy Institute
Tax cheats and their enablers
by Robert S. McIntyre, Citizens for Tax Justice
Read a transcript of this event
Read transcript
Listen to an audio recording of this event (approx. 62 minutes):
- streaming
audio (Real Audio)
- download MP3 (MP3) (58 MB)
Need help using this feature?
Copyright © 2005
by The Economic Policy Institute. All rights reserved.
Readers may distribute this article to other individuals
for noncommercial use, provided that the text, all HTML code, and this notice
remain intact and unaltered in any way. This article may not be resold,
reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written
permission from the author and EPI. If you have any questions about permissions,
please contact webmaster@epinet.org.
