A report from Republican members of the House Ways & Means Committee reveals that Americans are more than twice as likely to experience an IRS audit under President Joe Biden’s “tax and spending spree.”
The $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act includes $80 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service — which includes the hiring of 87,000 more IRS agents and more than 1.2 million new federal tax audits each year.
Citing Congressional Budget Office data, the report says:
Democrats’ tax and spending spree will more than double Americans’ chances of being audited as it targets lower and middle-income earners. The proposal will lead to an additional 1.2 million IRS audits each year, nearly half of which will hit middle class families making less than $75,000. All this so Democrats can wring an extra $200 billion out of the American people, particularly from middle-class families and small businesses.
The report further explains:
Nearly half of these audits — over 583,000 — would be on Americans making up to $75,000 a year. Even the lowest income Americans would see more audits with a quarter of these audits — over 313,000 — hitting Americans making up to $25,000 per year. This also will mean more than 800,000 more federal tax liens on taxpayer property such as homes and vehicles.
During a recent interview with One America News, Grover Norquist — the president of Americans for Tax Reform — said that the Build Back Better Act will play “smashmouth with small businesses.”
“The IRS has said they’re going to increase going after small businesses 50%,” Norquist asserted. “Biden gives speeches about how they’re going to go after big corporations and rich people. We know that’s not true. Large corporations are already audited regularly; rich people get audited. Where they’re planning to go, and where the IRS is telling us ahead of time, is to go after smaller businesses.”
“A lot of them deal in cash; restaurants, nail salons, beauty salons, barber shops, food trucks; all of your neighborhood grocery stores. This is where the IRS is going to go after and harass small businesses,” he continued. “Even an audit can bankrupt a small business because of the time it takes away from actual work getting done.”
The Democrats’ original social spending bill would have compelled banks to report gross inflows and outflows to the IRS in accounts with balances above $600 at any time during the year. Once lawmakers raised concerns over potential violations of the Fourth Amendment — which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the minimum balance would be raised from $600 to $10,000.
“Today’s new proposal reflects the Administration’s strong belief that we should zero in on those at the top of the income scale who don’t pay the taxes they owe, while protecting American workers by setting the bank account threshold at $10,000 and providing an exemption for wage earners like teachers and firefighters,” Yellen said. “We will continue to work with leaders in Congress to enact this important measure to level the playing field for workers and small businesses, and raise revenue to build our economy back better.”