Opinion: Why Trump’s Tax Man Will Be the Sheriff of Rottingham–Not Robin Hood

If confirmed as Donald Trump’s IRS commissioner, former Republican Congressman Billy Long will embody the disdain that an administration of, for and by billionaires has for our tax system.

The former six-term congressman has no background as a tax administrator—unless you count his efforts in Congress to eliminate the IRS, and his three-day crash course in Florida that earned him a “Certified Tax & Business Adviser” certificate.

“If you’re looking for a way to target your political opponents, the IRS would be at the top of the list,” says Brendan Duke, a tax expert at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington.

The 69-year-old Long is best known at home in Missouri as an auctioneer and real-estate agent. After leaving Congress in 2023 following a failed run for the Senate, he turned his connections and showmanship into a profitable business advising clients how to take advantage of a loophole in pandemic relief legislation designed to reward employers who kept their workers.

He worked with two tax advisory firms—Lifetime Advisors in Wisconsin, and Commerce Terrace Consulting in Missouri—drumming up business and sharing a cut of the federal funds. He boasted in a 2023 podcast about how a certified public accountant might not sign off on a client’s eligibility for the lucrative tax credit. Instead, he would tell them, “Go back to Billy. Let Billy do it for you.”

The podcast was titled “Secret Tax Credit That Could Put Thousands Back in Your Pocket with Billy Long.” Long even had the words “Employee Retention Tax Credit” emblazoned on his auctioneer’s cap.

Eventually the IRS caught on to what was supposed to cost the government $55 billion. As millions of claims were filed, the cost soared to over $230 billion, with some estimates showing the tax scam could reach over $500 billion, despite IRS efforts to tighten the requirements.

Tapping Long as IRS commissioner would be like putting a fox in a hen house.

“This means the end of tax enforcement as we know it,” Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, told the Daily Beast. “He’s an auctioneer—that’s just perfect. Tax credits to the highest bidder!! Going once! Going twice!!”

“I can’t even get mad, it’s so bleeping funny,” Galston said.

If Long is confirmed by the Senate, it’s the death knell for President Biden’s efforts to revive and reform the IRS. He succeeded in shoehorning $80 billion into the agency for stepped up enforcement and taxpayer service. The Republicans have clawed back more than half of that, and they’ll be coming for the rest once the new administration takes hold.

The cost cutting guarantees a free pass for billionaires and sub-billionaires who are good at tax evasion. For the record, we’ve never seen Donald Trump’s tax returns, and nobody bothers even asking anymore.

Duke, the tax policy expert, told the Daily Beast that he couldn’t think of a single redeeming qualification for Billy Long as tax commissioner other than he might be a “yes man.”

“We don’t know what’s been promised here,“ he said. “Trump maybe talked to other more qualified candidates who wouldn’t go along with his political retribution agenda.”

Trump’s choice for the IRS in his first term, Chuck Rettig, was an experienced tax attorney who served ably for Trump’s full four years, a rarity in Trump World, where turnover is high. “He did an excellent job standing up the child tax credit, which was delivered monthly,” says Duke. “A lot of people thought it couldn’t be done, and he did it.”

Biden’s choice for the job, Daniel Werfel, served in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He was named acting IRS Commissioner in 2013 and returned to the agency after Biden took office.

Werfel’s stint doesn’t end until November 2027, but no one expects Trump to honor the five-year term in place at the IRS, which is meant to convey both the complexity of the job and its non-partisan nature.

The IRS has a workforce of some 80,000 people, and is responsible for more than just collecting tax revenue. “It’s a really important law enforcement agency,” says Duke. “They are the people who put away Al Capone. They track money laundering and terrorism. This is not a joke job, but it is a joke appointment.”

Everything about Long says “old-fashioned fat cat,” at a time when the IRS needs a 21st-century makeover, not a throwback to an earlier time. His appointment has received little attention compared to some of Trump’s more sensational picks.

“This has flown under the radar,” says Duke. “He’s just as bad as RFK Jr., but nobody is paying attention.”

But Democrats are waking up to Long’s slim résumé, and what his confirmation implies.

This week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Long saying his “significant management or tax experience—and your promotion of credits that have been ‘magnet[s] for fraud’—raise serious questions about your qualifications to lead the IRS.”

Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Catherine Cortez Masto also sent letters to tax advisory firms that “reportedly paid Long on a contingency basis for ERTC refunds received by clients he referred.”

It’s a little late to be launching an investigation with a new sheriff about to arrive in town. But there’s enough bipartisan concern about ripping off the government—even if it’s legal—that Long may not be a shoo-in.

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