Press Releases
Top 5 Things to Know About Trump IRS Director Pick Billy Long
Washington D.C. – As former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), President Trump’s nominee to run the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), comes under increasing scrutiny, there is little mystery of how he would treat the agency: as an enemy within. Long’s record is clear as an unquestioning Trump loyalist who is likely to politicize the IRS’s operations. In the past several years, Long has enriched himself in a business known as a “magnet for fraud”. While in Congress he repeatedly co-sponsored bills to abolish the IRS and replace the income tax with a woefully regressive national sales tax that experts have criticized as a massive tax giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class, seniors and working people.
Billy Long’s efforts in Congress to make everyday Americans pay more in taxes so the wealthy pay even less and his recent involvement in a business notorious for tax fraud do not make him a wise choice to lead the IRS. But Long is ideal to help carry out Trump’s agenda of further rigging the system in favor of powerful insiders like billionaires and big corporations, while working people get stuck with the bill."
Tony Carrk, Accountable.US Executive Director
“Long’s contempt for the very agency he hopes to run raises serious concerns that under his watch working families won’t receive a fair shake from the tax agency while wealthy tax cheats will get a free pass,” continues Carrk.
Top 5 Things to Know About Trump IRS Pick Billy Long:
1) While In Congress, Long Repeatedly Co-Sponsored Legislation To Abolish The IRS And Replace The Income Tax, Estate Tax, And Others With A Regressive 30% National Sales Tax, An Idea President-elect Trump Has “Flirted With.”
2) Although Long Is Not An Accountant Or CPA, He Has Been Involved In Enrolling Businesses In The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC)—A “Magnet For Fraud” That Has Cost Billions In Federal Taxpayer Dollars—While Claiming “‘Everybody Qualifies’” And That He Won Refunds Of Over $1 Million For Entities Enjoying “‘Their Best Two Years Ever During COVID.’”
3) While In A Health Subcommittee, Long Was Scrutinized For Buying Stock In Innate Immunotherapeutics, Which Was At The Center Of Rep. Chris Collins’ Criminal Insider Trading Scandal.
4) Long, A Longtime Trump Loyalist Who Previously Pushed The IRS To Potentially Strip Tax-Exempt Status From The Humane Society, Will Be Scrutinized For Politically Interfering In IRS Operations And Could Have New Powers If Pending Legislation Is Passed.
5) Long Has Little Experience Working In Tax Policy Or In The Tax Industry And Did Not Serve On The House’s Main Tax-Writing Committee While In Congress.
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