BREAKTHROUGH! GOP Led House Repeals Funding for Horde of 87,000 IRS Agents (VIDEO)
The recent House Republican vote to repeal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents has been met with both criticism and praise. The bill, which passed on a party-line vote of 221-210, would zero-out funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and dramatically increase the IRS’ enforcement abilities.
The GOP-led House argued that the new funding would be used to hire 87,000 new agents to target Americans and tax cheats, and that the government should be here to help taxpayers, not go after them. Democrats, on the other hand, argued that the money would be used to help close the tax gap, which is the amount the IRS is paid by taxpayers versus the actual amount that is owed.
The House just approved its first bill: "repealing IRS funding."
Speaker Kevin McCarthy said after banging the gavel "Promises Made." pic.twitter.com/BBrjuSamzd
— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) January 10, 2023
The Congressional Budget Office reported that the GOP’s IRS measure would raise the deficit by $114 billion, and the Treasury Department estimated that the $80 billion from the IRA would fund just under 87,000 new employees, but not all of them would be new agents.
In addition, the IRS has said it plans to use the funds to update its technology systems, hire and train new information technology specialists, customer service representatives, as well as new agents. However, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen directed the IRS not to use the new funding to increase audits of those earning under $400,000.
The debate over this bill is likely to continue for some time. House Republicans have vowed to keep up scrutiny of the IRS, while Democrats maintain their stance that the new funding will help close the tax gap. It remains to be seen how this bill will be received by the public and if it will have any lasting impact on the IRS and the taxpayers they serve.
That said, it won’t matter unless it passed in the Senate as well, and with a Democrat majority there, it’s probably not going to happen and therefore much of what this Republican led House does won’t count for much.