The way that the United States tax system is set up, it is the responsibility of the individual to file their taxes, and surprisingly, a significant portion of Americans, estimated to be 10 to 12 million individuals, as reported by AI overview, do not submit their taxes each calendar year, even though they are required by law to submit such. Additionally, plenty of people don’t submit their taxes, even though they would be entitled to a refund, probably because they don’t know how to do their taxes or just never get around to it. That said, obviously, from a governmental perspective, it is of much higher importance to see that those who deliberately do not turn in their taxes because they owe tax money to the government are identified and thereby compelled to pay their appropriate taxes.
One would think that finding and discovering those who owe taxes would not be a daunting task, because everyone who is employed is going to have a W-2 issued to them, in addition to those who are self-employed having a 1099 issued to them. As for those with brokerage accounts, those accounts are subject to various 1099 forms, which the IRS is copied on. In consideration therefore that all citizens are issued a unique Social Security number, which is utilized for employment, self-employment, and for brokerage accounts, it thereby means that the government has records of these transactions, and when the numbers are high, yet no tax return can be found, it would behoove that government of, for, and by the people to see that those who appear to owe money to the government, file their taxes.
In this age in which certain governmental agencies are being reduced in staff, such as the IRS, one way to still go after tax scofflaws is to set up a system in which the governmental employee, on their own time, receives a commission from finding and thereby addressing those individuals who apparently are tax delinquent. This would be a win-win for the government, because those who owe would be compelled by law to pay what they owe, and providing a commission to the IRS agent for accomplishing this would be fair. In the absence of that occurring, the budget to specifically go after delinquent taxpayers should be increased so that, in fairness to all those who play by the rules and thus pay their appropriate taxes, the government would thereby make it its priority to see that those trying to escape paying what they owe would no longer be able to get away with it.
When it comes to governmental revenue, the individual income tax brings in approximately $2.5 trillion, yearly, so quite obviously this should be a very high priority of the government, which should consider all avenues when it comes to the filing and collection of such, including even setting up a system in which the government determines a given taxpayer’s obligation or refund and in absence of that taxpayer disputing such, this is what they owe or will receive a refund of. In sum, if there really are 10 to 12 million people who do not file their tax return each year, this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed in a more comprehensive and thorough manner, as this government’s inherent obligation to those who properly file each year.