Trump War Room Fact Sheet: Billy Long

FACT SHEET: Information on Billy Long Ahead of Senate Confirmation Hearing for the Position of IRS Commissioner

President Donald Trump has picked former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) to lead the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Long, a longtime Trump loyalist who is likely to politicize the IRS’s operations and has little relevant experience, has repeatedly co-sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS and replace the income tax with a regressive sales tax that would burden low- and middle-income families.

Billy Long Is A Longtime Trump Loyalist Who Will Be In A Position To Weaponize The IRS Against The President-Elect’s Perceived Political Enemies.

Long, one of the President-elect’s earliest and most vocal supporters, will be in a position to “effectively shut down” nonprofit groups that disagree with Trump and could have new powers in legislation passed under the last Congress’ Republican-controlled House.

While in Congress, Long previously pushed the IRS to investigate and potentially strip tax-exempt status from the Humane Society after it backed a ballot measure in Long’s home state of Missouri to strengthen rules for dog breeders.

Long Bragged About Peddling A Fraud-Ridden Pandemic Tax Credit That Cost Taxpayers Billions.

Although Long is not an accountant or CPA, he has been involved in enrolling businesses in the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), a “magnet for fraud” that has cost billions in federal taxpayer dollars. While promoting the ERTC, Long claimed “‘everybody qualifies’” and that he won refunds of over $1 million for entities enjoying “‘their best two years ever during COVID.’”

Long, Who Has Supported Abolishing The IRS, Took $248,500 From 17 Top Tax-Avoiders That Paid -0.4% On $289 Billion In Profits In Trump Tax Cuts’ First Five Years.

Long’s congressional campaign committees took $248,500 from 17 top tax-avoiding corporations. These 17 companies paid an astonishing average effective tax rate of -0.4% on over $289 billion in collective profits they made in the first five years of the 2017 Trump tax cuts—which Long voted for.

This group of corporations paid an average effective tax rate of -0.4% on over $289 billion in profits they made in the first five years of the Trump tax cuts. Long’s contributions include:

$72,500 from AT&T, which paid an effective tax rate of 2.6% on $96.3 billion in profits

$47,000 from Ameren Corporation, with an effective tax rate of 0.0% on $5.5 billion in profits

$37,500 from T-Mobile, with an effective tax rate of -0.4% on $17.9 billion in profits

Separately, Long also took $7,250 from Microsoft, which the IRS has pursued nearly $29 billion in back taxes from an “egregious tax evasion scheme” and held $140 billion offshore the year the Trump tax cuts were passed.

While In A U.S. House Health Subcommittee, Long Was Scrutinized For Buying Stock In Biotech Company Innate Immunotherapeutics, Which Was At The Center Of Rep. Chris Collins’ (R-NY) Criminal Insider Trading Scandal.

In 2018, then-Rep. Long was scrutinized for buying stock in Innate Immunotherapeutics (now called Amplia Therapeutics), which was at the center of Rep. Chris Collins’ (R-NY) insider trading scandal, resulting in a 26-month prison sentence for Collins.

Trump Accountability War Room

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