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The politics around the IRS and why some pay so little

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks at the 2021 Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Washington DC, December 1, 2021. USDA Forest Service photo by Tanya E. Flores.
Forrest Service, USDA
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks at the 2021 Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C, on Dec. 1, 2021. USDA Forest Service photo by Tanya E. Flores.

As the final weeks of tax season wind down, Congress is again debating the Internal Revenue Service. Republicans made rescinding billions of dollars in funding from the agency part of their platform as they retook the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. The GOP says the money is used by the IRS to harass Americans.

Meanwhile, Democrats have increased funding to the IRS recently to handle health and environmental priorities. The Biden administration also used part of the Inflation Reduction Act to explore a free tax-filing service. The idea would be to move away from corporate tax-filing services and, hopefully, create a cheaper, consumer-friendly product. However, for this to be successful, some policy changes are necessary.

Throughout all this, there is the familiar line: Why is the tax system so hard for the average American? And why do the ultra-rich get away with paying less?

We dive into all these issues with Paul Kiel, a ProPublica reporter who has focused on the U.S. tax system for years. He joins Mike Collins next time on Charlotte Talks.

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Paul Kiel, reporter covering business and consumer finance at ProPublica

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Gabe Altieri is the Executive Producer for Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. Prior to joining WFAE in 2022, he worked for WSKG Public Media in Binghamton, New York.