Federal agencies report massive losses and recoveries due to fraud

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has estimated that the federal government loses between $116 billion and $304 billion annually to tax fraud. This represents approximately 2% to 6% of the total true tax liability. Auditors noted that the IRS currently lacks an agency-wide antifraud strategy or a designated entity to coordinate fraud risk management, leaving oversight to individual divisions.

Separately, the White House released a fraud ledger detailing figures since January 2025. Vice President JD Vance, chairing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, reported that agencies have uncovered an estimated $260.7 billion in fraud, stopped $72 billion through administrative actions, and recovered or enforced $58.9 billion.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) reported the largest figures within this ledger, uncovering $122.9 billion in fraud, stopping $1.3 billion, and recovering $22.6 billion, largely related to cleaning up pandemic-era emergency loan programs.