May 23, 2023

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - For much of Black America, having adequate cash to cover monthly bills or small business overhead has historically been an ongoing challenge. But over the coming days, the nation’s coffers could also lack adequate cash and credit to cover its bills.  

The debt limit is the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments, according to the Treasury Department. 

On May 1, Treasury SecretaryJanet Yellenwarned both the House and Senate, “After reviewing recent federal tax receipts, our best estimate is that we will be unable to continue to satisfy all of the government's obligations by early June, and potentially as early as June 1, if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit before that time…Given the current projections, it is imperative that Congress act as soon as possible to increase or suspend the debt limit in a way that provides longer-term certainty that the government will continue to make its payments.” 

Since then, every passing day shortens time for President Biden and Congressional leaders to craft a resolution. To avoid rippling global financial chaos, both the Administration and Congress must reach agreement. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy advocates tying the debt dilemma to the Administration’s budget proposal, including slashing many domestic programs and adding new work requirements to access program benefits. Alternatively, President Biden seeks a separation between the debt limit and the budget. While discussions among the White House and lawmakers have begun, at press time no solution has yet to be announced. 

In the meantime, an anxious nation – its people and businesses – both face financial uncertainty.  

According to U.S. RepresentativeEmanuel Cleaver(Missouri), a long-time lawmaker and member of the House Financial Services Committee,“This is the first debt-ceiling situation that I felt was not going to be abated in time to protect our country. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” 

Federal fiscal agencies like the Congressional Budget Office and Federal Reserve have clearly and repeatedly warned Congress as well of the unprecedented and looming financial chaos that would result from debt default. Nonpartisan economists have also chimed in. 

For example,Moody’s Analytics, a foremost provider of financial intelligence that assists businesses to reach informed decisions, recently published a related report. 

“The timing could not be worse for the economy; even without the specter of a debt limit breach many CEOs and economists believe a recession is dead ahead,” states the report. “With the Federal Reserve ramping up interest rates to quell wage and price pressures, avoiding a recession would be difficult even if nothing else went wrong… Assuming a June 8 debt limit breach that dragged on through July, the Treasury would have no choice but to eliminate a cumulative cash deficit of approximately $150 billion by slashing government spending. As these cuts work through the economy, the hit to growth would be overwhelming.” 

The Bipartisan Policy center, a DC-based think tank that promotes viable public policy solutions, released its own independent analysisstating in part. “Ongoing risks include increasing costs to taxpayers, delayed payments to individuals and businesses, and potentially catastrophic financial and economic impacts if congressional inaction to raise the debt limit causes the U.S. government to default on its debt (unprecedented in modern history).” 

The list of federal benefits at risk in a debt default is as lengthy as it is painful. A sample of the benefits at risk include: 

• Up to 21 million Americans could lose their Medicaid, up to 1 million older adults could lose access to food stamps known known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. And up to 1 million poor children could lose welfare through TANF, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, according to lawmakers who wrote aMay 11 letterto President Biden. 
• Section 8 housing vouchers that enable 2.1 million people to pay a national rental average of $347 to live in standard and affordable housing would also be at risk, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.
  
• On June 1, $12 billion is supposed to go to military and civilian retirement payments and $12 billion towards veterans’ benefits. On June 15,  another $4 billion is needed to pay military salaries, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center;
  

• At the end of 2022, the Center for Medicare Advocacy. 
  

 “[A]cross the nation, rents have skyrocketed, eviction filings have increased, homelessness is on the rise, and millions of America’s lowest-income renters are just one financial shock away from falling behind on rent and losing their homes,” said Diane Yentl, President and CEO of the Coalition. “It is unacceptable to cut critically needed assistance to these households.” 

It should also be unacceptable for lawmakers elected to serve all of America’s people to lack the will to protect the nation. 

### 

Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached atCharlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org. 

May 23, 2023

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The IRS is exploring a direct e-file system for tax returns. However, some believe the system would bring undue harm to historically marginalized communities – including Black and low-income taxpayers - based on recent reports concerning IRS enforcement actions.

The Internal Revenue Service submitted a report to Congress, required by the Inflation Reduction Act, which evaluated the feasibility of providing taxpayers with the option of a free, voluntary, IRS-run electronic filing system, commonly referred to as "Direct File."

This report was issued just days after IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel sent a letter to Congress admitting that Black taxpayers are unfairly subject to audits more than any other group. The letter confirmed the findings in a Stanford University study released in January showing that Black taxpayers are 3-5 times more likely to receive an IRS audit than others.

Another academic study issued in January by Syracuse University noted that low-income taxpayers – primarily those who qualify for the earned income tax credit – are five times more likely to receive an audit than other tax filers. Both studies were conducted using data directly from the IRS.

Industry experts familiar with the e-file program developments and the reported imbalance in IRS enforcement actions noted that a new system built on a foundation of bias is risky and will have a negative impact on individuals and families already suffering from over audits.

More broadly, industry experts say the new system would make the process of filing taxes less transparent and undermine access to independent tax experts and advocates for all Americans. This could risk low-income and working-class taxpayers receiving smaller tax refunds than they deserve.

While the IRS report found that many taxpayers are interested in using a free IRS-provided tool to prepare and file taxes and that the agency is technically capable of delivering a Direct File program, the study is drawing fire from tax industry preparers like TurboTax.

Derrick Plummer, spokesperson for Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, said in a statement. “The report released by the IRS is not grounded in reality. The study ignores the harm a government-run system will have on vulnerable taxpayers and the true costs to taxpayers. The prices estimated in the study to build, operate, and maintain are laughable. “

Plummer also said, “The study cherry-picks data to support its flawed conclusion ignoring that only 12% of taxpayers said they would use a government-run system if state returns are not included.”

The IRS report concluded that effective execution of a Direct File program would require sustained budget investment and careful management of the potential program's operational complexity.

The report focused on three areas: taxpayer opinions, cost, and feasibility. The information included an analysis conducted by an independent third party, as required by the statute. The report also outlines the potential benefits and challenges associated with the IRS implementing a Direct File program.

“The IRS is committed to delivering significantly improved services by providing taxpayers with tools, information, and assistance to make it easier to comply with their tax filing obligations. Direct File – used by numerous tax jurisdictions worldwide – has long been discussed as an option for improving the customer experience for taxpayers in the U.S.," said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel.

Before the study's release, lobbyists for tax preparers criticized how the IRS historically targeted people of color when processing tax returns.

Last month activists protested tax prep giants TurboTax and H&R Block for trying to slow the release of government tax filing programs, which was part of a mega million-dollar lobbying effort.

April 18 was the deadline to file taxes in 2023, and the IRS reported receiving 90 million returns as of March 30. Agency officials expect 168 million individual tax returns to be filed this year.

A report from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) released in January, found that Black Americans were more likely to be audited by the IRS than another taxpayer group.

 “What we found was that the audit rate of Black taxpayers was 3 to 5 times the rate of audits for non-Black taxpayers, Stanford Researcher Daniel Ho told NPR.

He says the disparity doesn't appear to be deliberate. The IRS doesn't ask taxpayers about their race, and most audits are conducted by mail. But something in the way the agency decides who to audit results in Blacks being disproportionately targeted. And the new IRS commissioner,

sworn in just two months ago, told NPR, “Our tax system must be fair.”

“I engaged with my team on day one to make sure it's a priority to understand fully,” Werfel said. “How do we get to the bottom of it and figure out what we need to do going ahead?

While the agency is looking into the matter of disproportionate Black audits, an Intuit blog post notes that when it comes to direct e-file, taxpayers are concerned with “the conflict of interest of having the IRS as the judge, jury, and executioner of a taxpayers’ personal finances.”

According to the IRS report, approximately 60 percent of multiracial, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander recipients received a payment in the first week, compared to roughly 55 percent of White, American Indian, Alaska Native, Black, or Asian recipients.

In contrast, White and Asian recipients were the most likely to receive their payments in the first six weeks, though more than 90 percent of revenues were received in the first six weeks for every racial/ethnic subgroup the authors examined.

May 17, 2023

SPECIAL TO THE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE FROM BLACKMANSSTREET.TODAY

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A Special Ohio Grand jury failed to indict eight Akron police officers who fired 46  shots at Jayland Walker, a delivery driver, as he ran his life in a hail of bullets before died.

The toxicology screen was negative for drugs or alcohol, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa J. Kohler, M.D.

The medical examiner did not have gunshot residue because it could not be determined whether the person, Walker, did not fire a weapon.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Walker was driving before he jumped out of his car. Yost said made a threatening, before leading to the shooting. A gun was found in his car and next to a wedding ring.

The cops fired a total of 94 shots at Walker in 6.7 seconds. The eight officers have not been named but they have resumed desk duties.

Walker was hit in the heart neck and lung, liver, spleen, left kidney, intestines, and multiple ribs. He also was shot in the knees, right lower leg, and right foot.