The Biden administration needs more than $200 million next year to create a database to better track corporate earnings and fund the Internal Revenue Service in going after tax evaders, the US Treasury Department said in a request to Congress published on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) The Biden administration needs more than $200 million next year to create a database to better track corporate earnings and fund the Internal Revenue Service in going after tax evaders, the US Treasury Department said in a request to Congress published on Friday.
Under the 2022 discretionary spending request, some $191 million will go the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to create the database while $13.2 billion will be allocated to the IRS to improve its oversight of taxable individuals "to ensure that all Americans are treated fairly by our tax system", Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
The request for discretionary spending comes as the Biden administration proposes to increase the annual US corporate tax to 28 percent from 21 percent, and improve revenue collection in the current fiscal year to foot a $2.2 trillion infrastructure development bill.
Yellen explained that the $191 million proposed for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network will be $64 million above the 2021 enacted level.
The database created by the network will help track the ownership and control of certain companies and organizations and combat the use of complex corporate structures to shield illegal activity, Yellen said.
"Loopholes in financial reporting requirements undermine corporate accountability and allow illicit actors to evade scrutiny and mask their dealings," she said.
The $13.2 billion requested for the IRS will be $1.2 billion above the 2021 enacted level, Yellen said. "With this funding, the IRS will increase oversight of high-income and corporate tax returns to ensure compliance."
The discretionary investments reflect "only one element of the President's broader agenda" and that in the coming months, the administration will release its first budget "to address the overlapping crises we face in a fiscally and economically responsible way," Yellen added.
On Thursday, Biden said US firms need to fund the country's infrastructure needs and large corporations have long employed complicated maneuvers to reduce or eliminate their tax bills by shifting income on paper between countries, using especially tax havens like the Bermuda and Cayman Islands.
