A new bill known as the “Inflation Reduction Act” has cleared the Senate last
week, with a majority of it going towards funding research into clean energy
as well as reducing the effects of climate change. However, a lesser-known
proposal of the bill is that $80 billion dollars would be used to fund the IRS.
This $80 billion would be used to improve tax collection and enforcement on
the wealthy and elite while helping lower income families with tax audits.
The IRS reported that most of the IRS’s inquiries were for people with an
income of less than $75,000. Unlike wealthy Americans, these people do not
have the resources to hire lawyers to help them with these tax audits. The
goal of the reformed IRS is to focus their resources on the wealthy which, in
theory, should net the IRS more money than examining the lower class.
However, Republicans are not too keen on supporting this bill. They say that
as a result of giving the IRS more money, they would use the new funds to
audit and examine more and more Americans in the lower and middle
classes.
Senator John Barraso says “You don’t need that many IRS agents to go after a
few people they say are very, very rich. [The bill] would hit families, farmers
and the small businesses of Americans, that’s who’s going to bear the burden
of this legislation.” He notes that “4 percent of the $80 billion is going to
taxpayer services; 57 percent goes to enforcement, so that the IRS can spend
more time harassing taxpayers around this country.”
week, with a majority of it going towards funding research into clean energy
as well as reducing the effects of climate change. However, a lesser-known
proposal of the bill is that $80 billion dollars would be used to fund the IRS.
This $80 billion would be used to improve tax collection and enforcement on
the wealthy and elite while helping lower income families with tax audits.
The IRS reported that most of the IRS’s inquiries were for people with an
income of less than $75,000. Unlike wealthy Americans, these people do not
have the resources to hire lawyers to help them with these tax audits. The
goal of the reformed IRS is to focus their resources on the wealthy which, in
theory, should net the IRS more money than examining the lower class.
However, Republicans are not too keen on supporting this bill. They say that
as a result of giving the IRS more money, they would use the new funds to
audit and examine more and more Americans in the lower and middle
classes.
Senator John Barraso says “You don’t need that many IRS agents to go after a
few people they say are very, very rich. [The bill] would hit families, farmers
and the small businesses of Americans, that’s who’s going to bear the burden
of this legislation.” He notes that “4 percent of the $80 billion is going to
taxpayer services; 57 percent goes to enforcement, so that the IRS can spend
more time harassing taxpayers around this country.”
