Smith Demands Answers from IRS on $80 Billion Middle Class Audits Plan

As part of the Ways and Means Republicans ongoing aggressive oversight of the Biden Administration and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) sent a letter today to Acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell demanding the agency provide the Committee with a copy of its soon to be completed plan on how it will allocate the $80 billion in funds Democrats provided in their Inflation Reduction Act (IRA):

“In response to calls for transparency from both parties, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen instructed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to complete a plan by February 17, 2023, that details how the agency

intends to spend the massive infusion of $80 billion it received in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). I write today to request that you provide the Committee on Ways and Means with a copy of that plan.”

Chairman Smith notes that the Congressional Budget Office, among others, has confirmed middle class families are now under threat of increased audits by the IRS, despite Biden Administration promises:

“Secretary Yellen repeatedly suggested that audit rates would not rise for taxpayers making less than $400,000 relative to ‘historical levels’ without defining what ‘historical levels’ means. But the Congressional Budget Office, responding to an August 2022 letter from me, confirmed that audits and enforcement actions will in fact increase for hard-working Americans making less than $400,000. This is only one of many examples.”

While Washington Democrats try to deny the threat their IRS funding poses to working families, the $80 billion provided to the IRS will supercharge the agency with 87,000 new agents and threatens a massive increase in audits on the middle class. Meanwhile, less than 4 percent of the $80 billion was earmarked for customer service.

Chairman Smith’s letter follows a report from the IRS watchdog in January that established the IRS’s ongoing struggle to determine who it might audit with the substantial infusion of funds provided by Democrats – noting that agency personnel have admitted the only thing standing in the way of increased audits on middle class families are hiring challenges, not planning.

READ: Fact Check: Hell-bent on Supercharging IRS Against Middle Class, Democrats Once Again Mislead Public

READ: Watchdog: IRS Still Reluctant to Admit Who Gets Audited with $80 Billion in New Funding