The amount of effort and resources that’s required to collect taxes and catch cheaters is mind-boggling.
Many countries would benefit from simplifying the tax code, scrubbing a few loopholes. ie make it harder to cheat, cheaper to collect, so the resources get spent somewhere else.
I don’t think it’s always deficiencies in the tax code that they’re exploiting so much as complex networks of shell companies and offshore accounts to hide the income in the first place.
Biden Crackdown Hauls In $520 Million In Back Taxes From The Ultrawealthy
Using new funding earmarked for the IRS to target wealthy and corporate tax cheats, the IRS since mid-2022 has collected more than $520 million from about 1,600 households with income of more than $1 million and that are known to have unpaid tax bills of more than $250,000.
[…]The money [to fund the IRS] comes from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Known as the Biden administration’s climate and infrastructure bill, the $369 billion law also set aside $78 billion over the next decade for the IRS to hire customer support staff for ordinary taxpayers and new auditors who would focus on the filings of the ultrarich.
