Report: IRS Delayed Trump Tax Audits

Facts

• Following a congressional report that found the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) failed to inspect former Pres. Donald Trump's tax returns until Democrats pressed for their release, the agency's mandatory audit of presidents' and vice presidents' taxes has come under scrutiny.
• The three-point policy states that individual returns for the president and VP should be filed in an orange folder, kept away from the eyes of IRS agents, and securely locked away when not being reviewed by an examiner.
• According to the report released by the Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee, the process, which dates to 1977, was "dormant, at best" during the Trump administration.
• The report also notes that the IRS only started auditing Trump's 2016 taxes on April 3, 2019, more than two years into his presidency and just months after the Democrats took control of the House.
• This issue highlights the so-called tax gap — the difference between how much money has been paid to the IRS and how much is owed. Agency data estimates that the gap between 2017 and 2019 stands at $540B per year.
• The report argued that more well-trained agents, forensic experts, tax attorneys, and others were needed to audit presidential taxes as complicated as Trump's. Many Republicans are wary of giving additional resources to the agency.

Sources: Breitbart, ABC, Independent, and Times Leader.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Salon. It seems Trump wasn’t lying when he said he was under audit during the 2016 election. But while some thought he was hiding nefarious tax evasion – which he still may be guilty of, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars – he was actually afraid of his less-than-masterful business skills being revealed. The IRS is also at fault here, and it's time the agency rebuilds itself to finally go after the rich and powerful.
• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by Townhall. This report isn't about holding the IRS or the wealthy accountable, it's about Democrats taking one more baseless jab at nailing Trump before they're out of power in less than two weeks. This is also an attempt to codify the release of any and all public officials' taxes in the future, creating a weapon against political opponents, and dissolving the separation of powers between Congress and the White House.