George Hahn

The tax gap, the difference between the amount of taxes owed and the amount collected on time, surged to almost $700 billion in 2022.

Most of the taxes owed stem from underreporting of income by richer taxpayers.

An $80 billion increase in IRS funding planned under Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, since rescinded, would have alleviated some of the pressure, netting more than $600 billion over a decade.

Instead, the agency faces even more pain after losing more than a quarter of its workforce.

If we want to move the needle on wealth inequality, strengthening IRS enforcement is critical.

In 1969, Congress learned that 155 taxpayers with incomes exceeding $200,000 had paid no federal income tax in 1966.

So legislators created an early version of the alternative minimum tax, which essentially compares an individual's income before and after they claim certain deductions and embrace all the loopholes.

After a portion of their income is exempted, the taxpayer must pay tax on whichever amount is greater.

Legislation in 2017 didn't eliminate the tax, but it limited its scope, dropping the number of taxpayers affected from more than 5 million to 200,000.

We should have an individual AMT, with people above a $1 million threshold taxed at 40% and those over a $10 million threshold taxed at 60%.

I estimate this could raise hundreds of billions per year, while only affecting the top 0.2% or 275,000 taxpayers.

As the tax debate heats up, billionaires inevitably start to focus on spending more time with their family, as long as they live in a low-tax state.

In 2023, Bezos announced he was moving to Miami after almost three decades in Seattle to be close to his parents.

His family must have used all the face time to persuade him to sell billions in stock in a state that doesn't tax capital gains.

In 2022, Washington state imposed a new 7% capital gains tax on sales of stocks or bonds of more than $250,000.

Now, Mark Zuckerberg is in the process of buying property in Florida, triggering speculation that he's unhappy about the proposed new tax on California billionaires.

You think?

The meta-CEO has benefited enormously from taxpayer-funded investments in education and infrastructure in the Golden State.

If he wants to peace out to Florida, fine, but when he sells tens of billions of dollars in stock, he shouldn't be able to escape tax on the massive wealth he accrued while living in California.

Billionaires can run, but they shouldn't be able to hide.