$233–521 billion a year: What the government loses to fraud every year

The government's own auditors estimate fraud costs taxpayers $233 billion to $521 billion a year.

FraudBadPublic receipt
All federal programs

Yearly fraud losses, GAO estimate$233B–$521B¹
Share of what the government obligates3%–7%¹
Years of data behind itFY2018–FY2022¹
Fraud against tax revenue countedNo¹
Where the money went████████████████

fraudbad.comNo taxation without receipts

What happened

In April 2024 the Government Accountability Office published its first estimate of fraud across the whole federal government. It put the loss at $233 billion to $521 billion every year.

That is 3 to 7 percent of everything the government commits to spend. GAO built it from five years of data, 2018 through 2022.

Why nobody caught it

Agencies don't measure fraud. They measure "improper payments," which mixes fraud with honest mistakes and missing paperwork.
Fraud only gets counted once somebody is caught. GAO's estimate is an attempt to size what never gets caught.
The estimate leaves out fraud against tax revenue, and fraud in state-run programs unless federal investigators reported it.

How sure are we?

Estimated

An auditor, inspector general or the agency itself estimated the fraud. It's a measured range, not a list of names.

This is a statistical range, not a list of cases. GAO says not to apply the percentages to any single agency or program, and the real number could fall outside the range.

Sources

GAO-24-105833: federal government loses an estimated $233B–$521B a year to fraudU.S. Government Accountability Office · Apr 16, 2024

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