The world’s first tax, imposed 3,000 years BC, was called the “heqat,” and it required farmers to pay 20% of their harvest to the pharaoh. Given what we know about human nature, we can assume the first efforts to avoid the heqat began around 2,999 BC. Thus began a fiscal arms race that persists until today.
taxpolicy
Follow the Bouncing Ball
For decades, Republicans have been the party of tax cuts. But now, those at the top of the financial food chain may find themselves in for a surprise that reflects the Republican party’s evolution from the party of the rich to the party of the working class.
Jump Into the Void
Don’t look now, but April 15 is almost here! Ordinarily, that means money gushing in for our friends at the IRS. Last year, they took in $5.1 trillion, or 95% of all government revenue. Since then, the economy has grown 2.8%, suggesting we should see a similarly sized increase in revenue.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
It’s no secret Uncle Sam has been living above his means. He hasn’t balanced his budget since 2001. He put trillions on his American Express card to pay for Covid relief. And now, as he struggles to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 later this year, he’s fighting to flesh out a budget resolution that authorizes $86 trillion in spending through 2034. If he was your real uncle, you might be googling “Debtors Anonymous” meetings in your neighborhood.
Pizza Pizza
In 2016, the curtain rose on Ben Affleck’s movie, The Accountant. Spoiler alert: he’s not just an accountant. Sure, the character Christian Wolff spends his workdays laundering money for the mob. But what accountant doesn’t do that? (Well, besides us.) No, the real surprise is that he’s a stone-cold killer, taking out 28 characters in the course of a meandering, two-hour plot. If you watch closely enough, you’ll even see one guy get killed twice.
The Other Awards Show
The IRS doesn’t host anything quite so glamorous as the Oscars. There’s no red carpet. There aren’t any reporters asking who the stars are wearing (and for the IRS, it wouldn’t be more glamorous than Kohl’s). There aren’t any all-night after-parties in Beverly Hills or Bel Air. But they do have their own awards list. Last week, the IRS released its 2025 Dirty Dozen list: “the worst of the worst tax scams.”