Treasury, IRS announce 'major milestone' of $1 billion in past-due taxes collected from millionaires

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS on Thursday announced what they called a "major milestone" of collecting more than $1 billion in tax debt from high-income individuals over the past year.

With tens of billions in new funding, the IRS announced plans in September to expand its scrutiny of those making above $1 million annually with more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt.  

"The IRS has collected $1 billion from millionaires and shown that it can successfully launch strategic new initiatives and achieve the greatest return on investment," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters during a press call.

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If funding is sustained, IRS investments in enforcement, technology and data could generate up to $851 billion through 2034, the agencies estimated in February.

The infusion of IRS funding, enacted via the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, still has its critics, however, particularly among congressional Republicans.

"During the past decade, the IRS didn't have the resources or staffing to pursue high-income earners who our compliance team knew owed taxes," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said during the press call.

Werfel said unpaid taxes collected from similar earners were negligible before Inflation Reduction Act funding due to budget constraints. "The difference is really like night and day," he said. 

The audit rate for taxpayers earning $1 million or more was 0.7% in 2019, the most recent data available, compared with 7.2% in 2011, according to the