It is widely known that the IRS recently received a significant influx of funding via the Inflation Reduction Act that was signed into law last August. What is less clear is exactly how individual Americans and corporate entities will be directly impacted by the shifts that will be made as a result of this increase in IRS resources.
More than half of the money allocated to the IRS last summer must be utilized for tax enforcement purposes. This supplementation in funds likely means that more individuals and businesses will be accused and prosecuted for tax fraud as the funds are delivered over a 10-year period.
More immediately, the division of the IRS known as “IRS-CI” (IRS Criminal Investigation) has confirmed that two areas of focus are expected to ramp up in the very near future.
Cybercrime and sanctions-related investigations
IRS-CI has taken an increased interest in combating cybercrime since 2015. This year, its new Advanced Collaboration and Data Center will be completed. This resource will give investigators centralized access to data and other necessary resources in order to more effectively combat criminal activity related to cryptocurrency, the dark web, peer-to-peer payment schemes and open-source platforms.
Additionally, financial crime investigations connected to nations currently affected by sanctions – including Russia – will be a priority, partially due to the government’s desire to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine.
By better understanding the stated priorities of the IRS’s tax enforcement efforts, you can prepare yourself and/or your business to remain clearly in compliance with the U.S. Code in highly-targeted areas. With that said, it will also remain very important that you seek legal guidance if you have any reason to believe that you or your company may soon be the subject of an IRS investigation. Making proactive efforts now could more boldly empower you to successfully defend against any charges that may be handed down at some point in the future.