The White House has issued a statement that Bush's "senior advisers" would recommend a veto if H.R. 3056, a bill to end privatization of federal tax debt collection, is enacted. See this link for the statement. The White House statement suggests it would be inappropriate to allow tax bills to go uncollected, but this statement disregards the fact that private debt collection only applies to the easiest to collect of the past due taxes. The inequity of some people not paying their obligations continues, with or without privatization. If we would provide the IRS the resources and personnel to do the debt collection directly, we could collect more money with less taxpayer cost. So if the White House is so concerned about the inequity of taxpayers avoiding their obligation to make payment on tax debts, why isn't it lobbying Congress for adequate funding of IRS enforcement needs? One can't help but suspect that the White House's dislike of the bill relates to its general view that privatization of government functions--from debt collection to war mongering--is good.
The White House statement also lists another reason for disliking HR 3056--the revenue offsets. The bill treats expatriation --relinquishment of citizenship--as a taxable event. In effect, the ex-pat is required to mark assets to market as though there had been a sale of the assets and pay taxes on that constructive sale. The result is that those who take the wealth accrued in the US tax system out of the system to live in another country would pay a "toll charge" for that privilege.
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