Trump Cuts Tax Crime Cases as Justice Department Focuses Elsewhere – Reuters
Federal tax prosecutions in the United States have dropped to their lowest level in decades, declining by over 27% compared to last year, Reuters reports.
This comes as the Trump administration cuts the number of attorneys and IRS agents handling tax crimes and shifts the Justice Department’s attention toward immigration and other crime-fighting efforts, according to Reuters.
Reuters explains that the administration made major changes to the IRS criminal investigative unit, reducing staff and redirecting some agents to work on immigration cases or patrols in Washington.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department’s Tax Division was dismantled, and about a third of its lawyers quit rather than be reassigned, Reuters reports.
Experts cited by Reuters, including former IRS and Justice Department officials, warn that scaling back tax enforcement could encourage more tax cheating.
David Hubbert from NYU’s Tax Law Center told Reuters that reducing tax prosecutions “signals indifference to cheating” and disrespects millions of honest taxpayers.
Reuters’ examination of federal court records found that only 160 Justice Department attorneys handled tax prosecutions between January and November this year, down from about 420 last year.
According to Reuters, Trump officials told prosecutors early in the year that tax cases were not a priority, and some leaders were skeptical about pursuing white-collar crimes. Meanwhile, past investigations under previous administrations are being reviewed for alleged political bias, though Reuters notes no evidence has been provided to support these claims.
One example reported by Reuters involves cryptocurrency investor Roger Ver, who negotiated a deal to pay nearly $50 million and avoid conviction with attorneys linked to Trump.
The IRS criminal unit also lost over 10% of its employees in the first half of the year, and overall IRS staffing dropped by more than a quarter, according to Reuters.
Remaining agents are being pulled in many directions, including street patrols in Washington, ordered by Trump to show a “tough-on-crime” presence. Reuters says this diversion has further weakened the agency’s ability to enforce tax laws.
From a unique perspective, Reuters reporting shows that the Trump administration is reshaping law enforcement priorities. While the government focuses on immigration and visible crime, tax enforcement—a key tool to deter cheating—is being sidelined. This may not only reduce revenue recovery but could also signal to wealthy or powerful taxpayers that the risk of prosecution is lower, according to experts cited by Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/world/tax-prosecutions-plunge-trump-shifts-crime-fighting-efforts-2025-12-10