House Republicans cheered and applauded as they voted in favor of cutting funding for the Internal Revenue Service during their first economic legislation.
The GOP passed the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act by a vote of 221 to210. This bill aims to cancel $80 billion in funding that was included last year in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Both the GOP and Kevin McCarthy, the newly elected House Speaker, have pledged to pursue the IRS funding during the next Congressional term. They claimed that it would be used for recruiting 87,000 agents to audit families with low or moderate incomes.
Democrats and fact-checkers long rejected the idea that 87,000 would only be comprised of auditors.
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Some of the $80billion funding could be used instead to replace or retire the estimated 50,000 IRS employees and to upgrade its IT systems.
McCarthy stated that repealing the 87,000 IRS agent funding was the GOP’s “very first bill”. He made this speech after being elected House Speaker.
McCarthy blasted the gavel after Monday’s bill was passed. He stated that “promises were made.” This prompted celebrations by the House Republicans. Video footage taken from C-Span and posted to social media of the applause.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office stated Monday that the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act will increase the deficit to around $114 billion.
Biden’s administration condemned also the House Republicans’ “reckless bill”, while rejecting Republican claims to the contrary that new IRS resources would be used by Republicans to raise audit rates for small business owners or household incomes of less than $400,000.
H.R. The Office of Management and Budget stated in a statement that H.R. 23 “protects wealthy tax cheats at cost of honest, middle class taxpayers.”
“The House Republicans’ first economic legislation is clear: they want the wealthy and multi-billion-dollar corporations to avoid paying taxes. This will make it harder for middle-class, ordinary families to pay their taxes.”
A Treasury spokesperson stated in a statement that the Treasury had received consent to release this information. Newsweek“House Republicans” legislation allows wealthy corporate tax evaders continue to avoid taxes, increasing the burden for honest and hardworking families that pay taxes every paycheck.
The IRS audits almost 80 percent less millionaires than 10 years ago. This legislation would reduce the IRS’s ability to recruit top talent and pursue the $163 billion of tax avoidance by the top 1% annually.
Despite having been passed in the House, it is unlikely that the bill will be voted on by the Democrat-controlled Senate. If the bill does not reach his desk, President Joe Biden can use his veto power to stop it.
Reps. Adrian Smith introduced the bill originally in October. [R-Neb] Michelle Steel [R-Calif].
Smith stated that the last thing Americans need is more IRS audits.
The Inflation Act would fund the IRS to hire 87,000 additional employees to raise enough money to support Democrats’ Green New Deal priorities.
Our bill provides funding to customer service improvements and IT infrastructure because the IRS needs reform urgently, but protects middle-class families against audits that they can’t afford.
01/10/2022 – This article was updated by the Treasury.