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The US government said Friday that it has recovered $1.3 billion from wealthy taxpayers since late 2023, as part of efforts to ensure that high-income individuals are paying taxes owed.<\/p>\n
Between 2010 and 2018, the audit rate for millionaires fell by 80 percent<\/a>, according to excerpts from a speech that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is due to deliver in Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd during the previous administration, as audit rates on high-income taxpayers fell, the share of audits on taxpayers with incomes under $200,000 increased,\u201d Yellen added in prepared remarks, referring to former president Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n Tax policy has come into focus as November\u2019s presidential election draws close.<\/p>\n Both Democrat presidential hopeful Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Trump have been seeking to woo taxpayers with proposals to ease their financial burdens.<\/p>\n Harris, who is also Vice President under the current US administration, has pushed for higher taxes on wealthy individuals as well.<\/p>\n These proposals come atop of current efforts to collect unpaid taxes.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2019, the top one percent of Americans was estimated to owe over one-fifth of unpaid taxes, leaving ordinary Americans to shoulder the burden,\u201d Yellen notes in her speech.<\/p>\n On Friday, the US Treasury said that since officials launched an initiative in late 2023 to pursue high-income individuals who failed to pay their recognized tax debt, nearly 80 percent of 1,600 millionaires have since made a payment.<\/p>\n This meant a recovery of over $1.1 billion.<\/p>\n Another effort launched in early 2024 to go after high-earners who had not filed taxes since 2017 has separately returned $172 million in taxes, the Treasury said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended reading:<\/strong>
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