Elizabeth Burland (she/her)
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eburland.bsky.social
Elizabeth Burland (she/her)
@eburland.bsky.social
330 followers 380 following 8 posts
Spend a lot of time thinking about education inequality, financial aid policy, decision making | Assistant Research Professor at UConn School of Public Policy

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Reposted by Elizabeth Burland (she/her)
donmoyn.bsky.social
The DOGE cuts seemed to focus on tax teams that pursued enforcement of high income earners. The IRS had been building up enforcement on this area because most of the tax gap is driven by higher earners. Lax enforcement could cost hundreds of billions. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/five-quest...
Those interested in assessing the enforcement capacity of the IRS should determine how many staff are still working in enforcement, especially the Pass-Through Entities Practice Area, including the Global High Wealth unit and Pass-Through Examinations. They should also ask about audits opened and closed this year, and the income distribution of those taxpayers being audited. Another crucial question is the impact on revenue. A collapse in the IRS's capacity to audit higher-earners will certainly increase the $700 billion annual "tax gap" — the difference between tax money owed and tax money paid voluntarily and on time. Three fifths of that shortfall is due to underreporting of income by the top ten percent of earners; an additional dollar spent auditing these earners returns an estimated $12 in revenue. The damage to enforcement capacity this year is so unprecedented, it is hard to predict the cost. But one model has suggested that, over a decade, it could reduce revenue by about two hundred billion dollars.
November 12, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Burland (she/her)
donmoyn.bsky.social
If you are a federal employee with a gun, Trump will find a way to pay you even if he has no money for that purpose.
If you depend on SNAP, he will use the shutdown as an excuse not to pay you, even though they have money specifically for that purpose.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-risks-...
The risks of letting Trump become the military paymaster
Trump will demand their loyalty in return
donmoynihan.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:56 PM