一群民主党议员周一敦促美国国税局（IRS）局长弗兰克·比西尼亚诺（Frank Bisignano）解释，为何该机构推迟发布显示纳税人逾期未缴税款金额的数据。
A group of Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged Frank Bisignano, the CEO of the IRS, to answer for why the agency has delayed publication of data that shows how much money owed by taxpayers wasn’t paid on time.
这些议员在致比西尼亚诺的信中写道，国税局尚未发布2023年和2024年的税收缺口估算，是在“隐瞒富裕纳税人逃避缴纳应缴税款的程度”。国税局自1979年起发布税收缺口数据，估算数据可追溯至1973年。该机构报告总税收缺口（即申报人和未申报人未缴纳的税款总额）和净税收缺口（扣除国税局追回金额后的数额）。
The lawmakers wrote in a letter to Bisignano that the IRS not yet releasing its tax gap estimates for 2023 and 2024 is “hiding the extent to which wealthy taxpayers avoid paying what they owe.”The IRS has released the tax gap since 1979, with estimates dating to 1973. The agency reports the gross tax gap, which is the total amount in taxes that filers and nonfilers did not pay, and the net tax gap, which accounts for how much the IRS recovers.
根据该机构数据，2022年是国税局发布数据的最近一年，总税收缺口和净税收缺口分别为6960亿美元和6060亿美元。未缴纳的所得税占总税收缺口的近74%，其余为未缴纳的企业税、就业税和遗产税。
The gross and net tax gaps in 2022, the most recent year for which the IRS has released data, were respectively $696 billion and $606 billion, according to the agency. Unpaid income taxes made up nearly 74 percent of the gross tax gap, with unpaid corporate taxes, employment taxes and estate taxes making up the remainder.
这43名民主党议员在信中指出，引用2022年的估算数据，收入前10%的人群“应对”64%的未缴个人所得税负责。
In their letter to Bisignano, the group of 43 Democratic lawmakers noted those in the top 10 percent of income were “responsible for” 64 percent of unpaid individual income taxes in 2022, citing that year’s estimate.
议员们写道，国税局原定于2025年秋季发布数据，但未发布后续年份的税收缺口，使国会失去了“了解政策制定者如何恢复其执行国家税法能力”所“至关重要”的数据。
By not releasing the tax gaps for subsequent years, after it was scheduled to release data in fall 2025, the IRS is depriving Congress of data that is “crucial for understanding how policymakers might restore its capability to enforce” the country’s tax laws, the lawmakers wrote.
他们补充道：“鉴于特朗普政府大幅削减国税局执法力度——威胁要使税收缺口本身大幅扩大——您选择向美国民众隐瞒税收缺口的规模，尤为恶劣。”这指的是该政府削减国税局员工队伍。
“Your choice to hide the size of the tax gap from the American people is especially egregious in light of the Trump administration’s gutting of the IRS’s enforcement of the nation’s tax laws — threatening to expand the tax gap itself significantly,” they added, referencing the administration’s reduction of the IRS workforce. “In sum, you appear to be hiding the size of the tax gap from the public while pursuing policies that will make it larger,” the letter continued later.
信中随后继续写道：“总之，您似乎在向公众隐瞒税收缺口的规模，同时推行将使其扩大的政策。”《国会山报》已向美国国税局寻求置评。
The Hill has reached out to the IRS for comment. Sens.
参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦（民主党-马萨诸塞州）和罗恩·怀登（民主党-俄勒冈州），分别为参议院银行委员会和财政委员会的民主党首席议员，是签署该信函的议员之一。
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrats on the Senate Banking and Finance committees, respectively, were among those who signed on to the letter.
众议员迈克·汤普森（民主党-加利福尼亚州），众议院筹款委员会税收政策小组委员会首席议员，以及前议长南希·佩洛西（民主党-加利福尼亚州）也在信函上署名。
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also added their names.
立法者还要求比西尼亚诺（他同时领导社会保障局）在11月15日前说明美国国税局何时将公布2023年和2024年的税收缺口估计数。
The lawmakers also requested that Bisignano, who leads the Social Security Administration as well, state when the IRS will publish tax gap estimates for 2023 and 2024 by Nov. 15.
他们还要求美国国税局局长承诺“不以损害其对政策制定者有用性的方式改变税收方法”，概述该机构对税收缺口计算所做的“具体方法论变更”，并提供2023年穿透实体、公司和离岸活动分别占税收缺口多少的数据。
They also asked the IRS chief to commit to “not altering the tax methodology in a way that undermines its usefulness to policymakers,” outline “specific methodological changes” the agency is making to the tax gap calculation and provide data on how much pass throughs, corporations and offshore activities accounted for the tax gap in 2023.