Lily Batchelder

@lilybatch.bsky.social

Kopple Family Professor, NYU Law. Faculty Director @taxlawcenter.org. Former Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at Treasury; Deputy Director, National Economic Council; Chief Tax Counsel, Senate Finance Committee.

My new piece in Democracy on why Congress should repeal expensing and move back toward economic depreciation for large businesses, as was the law for most of the income tax’s history. Could raise ~$2 trillion over 10 years. Here’s 4 reasons why: 1/17 democracyjournal.org/magazine/81/...

Expensing—Not Worth the Expense

Last year’s giant tax bill established something unprecedented in the history of the income tax, which sounds dryly technical and thus unobjectionable. It’s called permanent “expensing,” and it allows...

democracyjournal.org

THREAD: GOP Senators say they're trying to scale back the SALT cap relief in the House bill. But could the approach to SALT in the Senate bill actually end up *more* generous & costly overall than the House bill? Do Senators – or does anyone – even know, despite the intense political focus on SALT?

New JCT distributional estimates of proposed tax changes by the Senate Finance Committee. Compared to current law, the bill heavily skews benefits to the wealthy as a share of after-tax income. 1/

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On June 3, I'm moderating a panel for the @taxlawcenter.org on the privacy risks of unprecedented access / sharing of taxpayer data across government. We'll hear from Former IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel plus Brandon DeBot, Elizabeth Laird & David Padrino. Please join! nyu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Register for Webinar: Understanding Risks to Taxpayer Privacy

Please join the Tax Law Center for a virtual discussion of the legal, privacy, and cybersecurity risks of unprecedented efforts to access, use, and share taxpayer data across government for purposes f...

nyu.zoom.us

The President just effectively signed a statement that he is committing a crime, violating a criminal statute enacted with overwhelming bipartisan majorities (it passed 96-2 in the Senate). Here is the law and his post. 1/3

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Harvard may not be at the top of most people’s list of favorite charitable causes, but if the President’s and WH's unlawful interference in IRS actions regarding specific TPs and charities isn’t stopped, it means he or any president can come for your church or community group.

Harvard sues the Trump administration in escalating confrontation

Lawsuit argues that government actions, including freezing $2.2 billion in federal funding, violated the First Amendment and didn’t follow legal procedures.

washingtonpost.com

The silence from Republican lawmakers re: Trump’s suggestions that IRS audit specific tax exempt orgs is deafening. Here’s a short history of how Rs and Ds responded to prior IRS reviews of tax exempts when *no* political appointees, let alone the President, were interfering. 1/

Trump eyes targeting more tax-exempt groups while denouncing Harvard

President Donald Trump defended his administration's moves to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status and suggested more organizations could be in the IRS's crosshairs.

politico.com

What could possibly go wrong? 🤔 “Corcos has discussed plans for DOGE to build ‘one new API to rule them all… A ‘mega API’ could potentially allow someone with access to export all IRS data to the systems of their choosing, including private entities.” www.wired.com/story/doge-h...

DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data

DOGE operatives have repeatedly referred to the software company Palantir as a possible partner in creating a “mega API” at the IRS, sources tell WIRED.

wired.com

A great explanation of why it is such a big deal and bad idea to allow DOGE access to access tax data in unprecedented ways it is demanding (in addition to violating the law as far as we can tell based on reporting) news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights...

DOGE Getting IRS Data Like Giving Custodians Vault Keys: Werfel

Former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel explains why remaining IRS officials must closely question why DOGE staffers want access to IRS taxpayer data.

news.bloombergtax.com

The giant cut in IRS is effectively a tax cut disproportionately for top of income spectrum and done in worst possible way-a reward to aggressive tax positions and lawbreaking-and demoting top lawyer risks IRS itself not following the laws on the books. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Top IRS lawyer pushed aside as DOGE seeks records and 20 percent staff cuts

The acting chief counsel of the IRS has been removed from his position as Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service seeks access to sensitive taxpayer records, according to people familiar with the matter.

washingtonpost.com

More on Trump administration efforts to replace/override top IRS lawyers raising strong concerns that DOGE push for extraordinarily broad access to, and sharing of, confidential taxpayer information is not authorized by the law. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Top IRS Lawyer Set to Be Demoted Amid Taxpayer Data-Sharing Clash

The move could make it easier for the tax agency to share its trove of confidential taxpayer data with others in the government.

wsj.com

The series of IRS officials who have put the law above their personal job security join a line of public servants - stretching back to Treasury and IRS leaders during the Nixon era - who have resisted unlawful attempts by elected officials to weaponize taxpayer data and systems.

If the Administration’s new appointee for the top IRS lawyer accedes to DOGE requests for extraordinarily broad access to confidential taxpayer information despite the law, taxpayers’ data and their rights will be at risk of large-scale breach and abuse.

Jeff Stein@jeffstein.bsky.social · last yr.

BREAKING: Trump team has removed the top IRS attorney as career staff resist demands to give DOGE access to sensitive taxpayer records, multiple sources say DHS has sought home addresses of undocumented immigrants who pay taxes W/ @jacobbogage.bsky.social & co

Bill Paul is an extraordinary public servant who served as Acting Chief Counsel under 3 administrations, including Trump I. I fear what this signals given DOGE’s push for IRS to approve extraordinarily broad sharing of taxpayers’ confidential data across federal agencies. 1/3

Jacob Bogage@jacobbogage.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 News: Trump administration pushes aside top IRS lawyer as DOGE seeks sweeping access to tax records Scoop via me + @jeffstein.bsky.social & WaPo team...

Deeply troubling allegations that DOGE affiliates were hastily given access to broad data systems at SSA containing highly sensitive tax data, and that DOGE affiliates were not following standard security safeguards for that info 1/4 www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Former Social Security official describes hostile takeover by Musk team

DOGE officials also put millions of taxpayers’ private data at risk and refused to say why they needed access to it, the official says.

washingtonpost.com

The Social Security angle: the IRS collects payroll taxes, too. You know, the $$$ that pays for the Social Security benefits you know & love. In fact, 3/4 taxpayers pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes. Obviously they’re trying to help rich tax cheats. But this hurts Social Security, too.

Catherine Rampell@crampell.bsky.social · last yr.

Hard to overstate the idiocy of such a decision. This will worsen taxpayer customer service. And it will INCREASE deficits.

We have research on this Chart below understates ROI of IRS enforcement, as it excludes deterrence effects Post-audit, noncompliant taxpayers start paying much more in taxes voluntarily. These additional taxes =3x revenue raised from initial audit, on avg, over next 14 yrs bsky.app/profile/cram...

Catherine Rampell@crampell.bsky.social · last yr.

Besides the personal cost to those losing their jobs, this WILL NOT SAVE MONEY. Every $1 IRS spends on audits brings in >$1 in additional revenue. This is especially true for audits of the very rich: $6.29 returned for each dollar spent auditing top 0.1%. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...