Aniket Pujari(Bloomberg) — The Internal Revenue Service uncovered $10.6 billion in financial crimes — a nearly 16% increase from the year prior — even as it deployed agents to Trump administration law enforcement priorities far beyond their usual remit.
The IRS’s criminal investigations unit emphasized the role its officials played in advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda in its annual report released Friday. Those included cracking down on tax fraud tied to the employment of undocumented immigrants and the use of IRS agents to boost National Guard deployments in US cities.
The agency identified $4.5 billion in tax fraud — a nearly 112% increase from the year prior — and more than $6 billion tied to other financial crimes in the federal fiscal that ended Sept. 30. The number of warrants issued also jumped by a quarter, while about 14% more cases were referred to prosecutors compared to the previous fiscal year, the agency said.
The IRS credited a combination of factors for the increase, including shifting priorities, the use of advanced analytics to detect suspicious activity and a new partnership with financial institutions to identify potential crimes.
While some enforcement priorities were consistent with those reported in past years, including a focus on money laundering, cyber-related crimes and tax credit fraud, the report also revealed new focus areas in line with the Trump administration’s policy priorities.
In May, the IRS enforcement arm started providing support to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As part of that shift in priorities, the agency targeted “labor brokers” involved in supplying undocumented workers, typically to the construction, agriculture and hospitality industries. The agency highlighted two cases brought against brokers, who collectively were ordered to pay $100 million in restitution for payroll tax violations.
In a marked departure from annual reports released during the Biden administration, the report made no mention of the “tax gap,” or the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid. Ensuring businesses and wealthy individuals pay taxes in full was a priority during the Biden years.
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