Insights on Blacks and Taxes from Tiffany Cross and Andrew Gillum

How BLACK ENTERPRISESAs previously reported, Terrence Howard caused a stir when he stated in a voicemail to the Justice Department’s chief tax attorney that Black people shouldn’t should pay taxes due to unpaid reparations bills owed to Black people by the United States government.

In a recent episode of the Native Land podcast, broadcast journalist Tiffany Cross; Angela Rye, head of political consultancy IMPACT Strategies; and former Florida politician Andrew Gillum discussed the validity of Howard’s claims, although they briefly acknowledged that the Hollywood star’s claims were likely driven by self-preservation.

During the conversation, they wondered aloud whether the identical attention was paid to blacks who evade taxes in comparison with whites who evaded taxes, and then moved on to a broader discussion of how tax law works to protecting family assets with generational wealth. typically white families.

In 2023, it was announced that after almost a decade of gutting, the money injection into the Internal Revenue Service provided for within the Inflation Reduction Act enable the agency to extend its capability to conduct audits of high-income people.

According to the IRS Strategic Operating Plan, “Taxpayers earning $1 million or more had an audit rate of just 0.7% in 2019, down sharply from 7.2% in 2011. We will increase enforcement for those with high-income and wealthy individuals to help them make sure they pay their fair share of taxes.”

This is undoubtedly first step, however the American tax system basically, as also reported, is designed to learn the rich a lot that Jeff Bezos, considered one of the high-income individuals targeted by the IRS, he didn’t pay taxes for years.

March 7 on the White House published an information sheet details his plans to implement tax cuts for working American families while requiring the rich to pay their fair proportion of the tax burden.

It’s price noting that the White House spreadsheet also highlights the Republican Party’s fight against this initiative. Regardless of their complaints, the tax code has been adjusted in order that corporations are required to pay at the least 15% in taxes. The Biden-Harris administration notes that it will be sure that billion-dollar corporations like Bezos’ Amazon is not going to give you the option to opt out of paying federal taxes in the long run.

The Biden-Harris administration has proposed that individuals earning greater than $100 million pay at the least 25% in taxes, a rise from the present tax rate of 8%. Proportionally, they currently pay less income tax than people in professions equivalent to firefighters or teachers.

The administration also touted its actions to assist the IRS crack down on millionaire criminals, which likely prompted Howard to achieve out to the Justice Department. Meanwhile, Howard did he claimed he was a victim of low wages consistently throughout his profession.

When it involves tax cuts for working Americans, the Biden-Harris administration is adopting a tone familiar under Democratic presidents: To finance tax cuts for the center class, they may seek to lift taxes on the rich.

According to the actual fact sheet, “President Biden’s plan will include all middle-class tax cuts; as the President has repeatedly promised, he will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. He will fully pay for these extensions with additional reforms that make sure the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share so they don’t add to the debt. He also opposes extending tax cuts or restoring tax credits for people earning more than $400,000 a year.”

While the concept of ​​not paying taxes because of the U.S. government’s refusal to offer wholesale compensation is actually attractive, the very best thing the federal government can do from a tax collection standpoint is to make tax payments more equitable for all, with the wealthy paying as much as they weigh.