Warren Presses IRS Nominee Billy Long on Questionable Record of Pushing Fraud-Ridden Tax Credit
Long bragged about securing $3 million faulty refund, claimed “everybody qualifies” for credit, encouraged people to question accountants
“Borders on absurdity,” said external auditor about Long’s firm’s interpretation of ERTC eligibility
Podcast with Billy Long detailing his work pushing the ERTC mysteriously removed from online platforms last month
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Billy Long, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner, detailing her concerns with Long’s qualifications and requesting answers to his involvement in potential abuse of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC).
“Although you bill yourself as a ‘Certified Business and Tax Adviser,’ this certification appears to only require a three-day training. Indeed, your lack of 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,” wrote Senator Warren.
After leaving Congress in 2023, Billy Long worked for Commerce Terrace Consulting and Lifetime Advisers, where he repeatedly pushed businesses to file for the ERTC, a refundable tax credit designed to support struggling businesses able to demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their bottom line and helped keep them afloat. Firms known as “ERTC mills” specialize in exploiting the credit’s eligibility criteria, opening the door for fraud and abuse — resulting in huge delays and harms to honest businesses trying to rightfully claim the credit.
Long himself has a troubling record of appearing to exploit the credit’s eligibility criteria for his clients’ — and his own — profit. Long publicly claimed that “everybody qualifies” for the credit and instructed his social media followers to “DM [him] to save 40% on [their] taxes.” Long bragged that he helped secure a $3.6 million ERTC payout for an organization, only for its chief executive to say that “it had ultimately dropped its claim after receiving advice that it may not qualify for the credit. Long also stated that businesses he’s worked with “have had the best two years of their life” during the pandemic, and urged people to question their accountants — and turn to him to produce an ERTC success story, instead. When Congress was considering shutting the program down due to rampant fraud, Long “traveled to Washington to try to persuade [his] former colleagues in Congress…not to follow through.”
“Your most significant tax experience has been your recent work promoting a fraud-ridden pandemic-era tax credit, which you have incorrectly claimed “everybody qualifies” for,” wrote Senator Warren.
Lifetime Advisors, the lawsuit-ridden firm that Long promoted, has been criticized for taking an “aggressive stance” on ERTC eligibility. Two accredited accountants reportedly left the company “after raising concerns about how the firm prepared taxes.” Meanwhile, Lifetime had a clear financial stake in pushing questionable ERTC claims – with one contract granting Lifetime 20% of a $300,000 ERTC credit in fees from a client. One nonprofit hired Lifetime but was later warned by an external auditor that Lifetime’s “expansive interpretation” of the ERTC eligibility criteria “borders on absurdity” – causing the nonprofit to return its refund to avoid a potential IRS audit (Lifetime refused to refund its fee).
“Given the widespread issues caused by ERTC mills, taxpayers deserve a better understanding of your role in this space,” wrote Senator Warren.
A podcast episode in which Billy Long detailed his work pushing the ERTC and potentially exploiting its eligibility criteria was mysteriously removed from online platforms last month.
“I am also troubled that shortly after the announcement of your nomination, with no explanation, and after press reports of your appearance on it, the podcast cited above was pulled down from multiple podcast platforms, including the Listen Notes website, Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, raising questions about whether your full record on tax issues is being obscured in advance of your confirmation hearing,” concluded Senator Warren.
Senator Warren highlighted her concerns with Long's qualifications when his nomination was first announced, saying: “Billy Long’s nomination to lead the I.R.S. is bad news for middle-class taxpayers and a win for ultra-wealthy tax cheats...If he’s confirmed, taxpayers can expect longer wait times for customer service, a more complicated process to file taxes, and free rein for the rich and powerful to continue rigging the system at the expense of everyone else.”
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