Quick catch up…
The Inflation Reduction Act will drop $80 billion dollars on the IRS, triggering a hiring spree that will double the size of America’s worst-run agency by 2031. You wouldn’t use that extra muscle to go after Americans making below $400,000, would you Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen?
“Specifically, I direct that any additional resources—including any new personnel or auditors that are hired—shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels,” Yellen wrote in the letter to Rettig. “This means that, contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited.”
And are we absolutely sure about that, IRS Commissioner Rettig?
“These resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans. As we’ve been planning, our investment of these enforcement resources is designed around the Department of the Treasury’s directive that audit rates will not rise relative to recent years for households making under $400,000.”
Well, then why is the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) saying in a letter last week that “new auditing activity targeting taxpayers who report less than $400,000 per year will be expected to contribute to about $4 billion in revenue,” according to The Tennessee Star?
“Some taxpayers reporting income of less than $400,000 on their tax return, for whom the proposed amendment would have barred audits using the new funding, will be found to have more income than they reported—in some cases, income greater than $400,000—if they are audited,” said the CBO, expecting IRS audits to spike.
Let’s get an answer directly from the White House, courtesy of Fox News’ Peter Doocy.
Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre: “This is not about folks who make less than $400k.”
Doocy: “So no new audits on anybody making under $400k a year?”
Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre: “No. Very Clear. No.”
No help there. IRS spokesman Anthony Burke declined to comment on the CBO’s findings.
Maybe they need time to “get their story straight.”
