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DoubleLine's Jeffrey Gundlach (Photo: Jim Lee/Bloomberg)

Portfolio > Economy & Markets > Fixed Income

Gundlach Says Unannounced IRS Visit Was a Clerical Error

By Michael Sin & Ben Steverman

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Jeffrey Gundlach said an unannounced visit by an Internal Revenue Service agent at his Tampa, Florida office turned out to be a clerical error.

The mistake “does not induce confidence in the system,” the DoubleLine Capital co-founder said in a tweet Wednesday evening, his latest complaint aimed at tax authorities.

The agent had showed up for “no legitimate reason,” Gundlach had said late Tuesday, without providing further details.

Representatives for DoubleLine Capital didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Related: Gundlach Moves $134B DoubleLine Unit to Tax-Free Florida

Gundlach moved the main office of his money management arm to Florida after criticizing taxes and the quality of life in California.

The outspoken investor joined a slew of other financiers shifting to the Sunshine State from higher-tax regions such as New York, New Jersey and Illinois during the pandemic.

The billionaire has posted several tweets critical of the IRS and the U.S. tax system in recent years, claiming in March that California was trying to “retroactively tax former residents.”

It’s not uncommon for the IRS to audit rich Americans, nor to conduct site visits of businesses, though such enforcement activity has become rarer as the agency’s budget has been squeezed.

According to a Government Accountability Office report last year, the chances of an American earning $5 million or more getting audited fell from 16% in 2010 to 2.35% nine years later.

An IRS spokesperson said the agency can’t comment on specific taxpayers.

“The IRS deeply respects taxpayer rights and follows very specific guidelines before contacting taxpayers,” she said in a statement. “In general, people who have a tax issue will have multiple contacts from the IRS before any in-person visit occurs.”

The Biden administration is gearing up to step up enforcement on wealthier taxpayers and last year secured almost $80 billion in extra funding under the Inflation Reduction Act to modernize the agency.

“This is our moment in history to transform the IRS,” the agency’s new commissioner, Danny Werfel, declared at his swearing-in ceremony in April.

(Photo: Jim Lee/Bloomberg)

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