Summers: IRS layoffs could cost government $1 trillion in revenue

Lawrence Summers, former US Treasury Secretary, said that the Trump administration's move to reduce the size of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other policy changes could encourage taxpayers to reduce tax compliance, potentially resulting in the federal government losing as much as $1 trillion in revenue over the next decade. Summers stated in an interview that cutting IRS staff threatens the "foundation of the tax system, which is based on voluntary compliance." Summers said he is analyzing the issue with colleagues. "If we don't lose more than $1 trillion in revenue over the next decade because of this irresponsible and baseless attack on the IRS, I would be surprised," he said.