Audit Fewer, Help None: The Hollow Justice of a Broken IRS

How Trump’s IRS cuts disguise systemic injustice and leave the wealthy even less accountable.

IRS headquarters, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (credit: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

As the United States witnesses an unprecedented dismantling of several federal agencies, one can only wonder what’s next, especially for groups who have long been the victims of racially biased institutions.

In the last few months, Trump has established the Department of Government Efficiency, tasked with making the government more “productive” and cutting wasteful spending. Recently, DOGE has arrived at the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. In the midst of tax season, Trump ordered that 6,700 IRS employees be laid off, including 5,000 audit and compliance staff.

Black families might face fewer audits this tax year, despite typically being 2.9 to 4.7 times more likely to be audited—and even more so among those who claim the Earned Income Tax Credit. But let’s be clear: this isn’t justice from a system that has long been skewed toward wealthy white families. It’s nothing more than a political play that temporarily halts a racist practice. While it may seem like a win for minority communities, it may only continue to grow class disparities.

The tax system has long been racially biased. Black families have consistently shouldered more audits, penalties, and financial hardships under the tax system compared to non-Black families. Racial disparities persist in benefits intended for the poor, like the EITC, particularly during the audit process. According to a report by Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, Black EITC claimants face far higher audit rates compared to non-Black filers. The same report found that 78% of the racial audit disparities are due to how the IRS selects EITC returns for review.

Beyond race, even from a purely financial standpoint, auditing poor people makes no sense. According to a report analyzing the estimated returns of IRS audits of taxpayers across the income distribution, auditing the bottom 50% of earners yields less than $1 for every $1 spent, while auditing the top 1% would yield $6 to $12 per $1 spent. So why does the IRS still prioritize auditing the poor? Auditing poor taxpayers is not the most fair or profitable strategy, but it’s easier and less resource-intensive than auditing wealthier, more complex returns.

Cutting the IRS doesn’t solve any problems stemming from decades of blaming poor or Black people for budget shortcomings and pushing the burden on them. That said, DOGE cuts may inadvertently reduce disproportionate audits this cycle. Many of the 6,700 fired IRS staff had compliance roles reviewing both low- and high-income returns.

Less accountability leads to unintended consequences: the widening tax gap. The tax gap refers to the difference between the total taxes owed and the amount actually paid. According to Yale researchers, by 2026, there will be a tax gap of $769 billion, and if the IRS receives Trump’s additional IRS cuts of 20% (18,200 workers, according to CNN reports), that tax gap will grow by $134 billion. The estimates by the Yale researchers put the top 1% of earners as responsible for about 28% of all unpaid taxes. The tax gap is the result of wealthy people who have failed to pay their full share of taxes, putting the burden on the rest of Americans. 

So with an enforcement vacuum, the IRS can’t audit at scale. While that may include reducing audits that unfairly target poor Black families, it also means less scrutiny for those most skilled at avoiding accountability: the wealthy. The proposal isn’t reparative justice; it’s another glitch in a broken system. In fact, the enforcement cuts may encourage those most likely to skirt tax laws—corporations and the wealthy— to continue coming up with ways to avoid paying their fair share. In the words of Richard Prisinzano, director of policy analysis at Yale’s Budget Lab, “When you say to somebody, ‘Your probability of being audited went down by 50%,’ they might increase their risky behavior because they’re less likely to be caught.”

Trump’s real goal isn’t to help low-income families and fix a racial auditing disparity; it’s a larger political move as he seeks to fulfill his broader campaign goal of abolishing the IRS and establishing the “External Revenue Service.” This isn’t a fix — it’s a complete abandonment of oversight, leaving the wealthy freer than ever to avoid accountability.

While Trump has come up with yet another radical plan of eliminating federal income taxes for those earning under $150k. This seems to benefit many poor Black families who will be relieved of another expense, similar to the issue of audits, but it’s actually harmful in the long term. These revenue shortages will likely be filled with consumption taxes, which are regressive and disproportionately burden the poor. 

Trump’s IRS cuts and seemingly innocent tax agenda may seem to challenge a racist audit system, but not by intention. Because of a failure to acknowledge the racial dimension of these historically racist institutions, the system will continue to come back, and maybe worse. Algorithms will continue to target the poor, racial disparities will persist, and the only true winners are the rich. We can’t mistake sabotage for justice. If we want a tax system that’s fair — one that doesn’t prey on the poor or protect the rich — we can’t rely on broken systems to malfunction in our favor. Change cannot be incidental or accidental. We have to build a just system on purpose.