U.S. media outlet ProPublica said it obtained "a vast trove of
Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of
the nation's wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years."
The data indicated that billionaires including Amazon founder
Jeff Bezos and Tesla founder Elon Musk paid no federal income
taxes during some years.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that "any
unauthorized disclosure of confidential government information"
is illegal.
Treasury Department spokeswoman Lily Adams said in an emailed
statement that the matter has been referred to the FBI, federal
prosecutors and two internal Treasury Department watchdogs, "all
of whom have independent authority to investigate."
The IRS, part of the Treasury Department, is the nation's
tax-collecting agency and many tax records are considered
confidential documents. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig also
confirmed that an investigation is underway.
"Obviously we take it very seriously," Psaki told a briefing.
ProPublica described the records as "confidential" and did not
disclose how it obtained them.
President Joe Biden has sought tax increases on the wealthy to
help fund proposed spending on infrastructure and social
programs, including raising the top tax rate to 39.6% from the
current 37% and nearly doubling the capital gains tax rate to
39.6% for Americans earning $1 million annually or more.
"We know that there is more to be done to ensure that
corporations (and) individuals who are at the highest income are
paying more of their fair share," Psaki said.
Rettig addressed the matter during testimony to the Senate
Finance Committee.
"I can't speak to anything with respect to specific taxpayers. I
can confirm that there is an investigation, with respect to the
allegations that the source of the information in that article
came from the Internal Revenue Service," Rettig said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Andrea Shalal, Jason Lange and
David Lawder; Editing by Will Dunham)
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