Washington,
D.C.–U.S.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the
following statement on increased funding for the IRS included in the “Inflation
Reduction Act,” and his amendment to protect small businesses and middle-class
taxpayers from increased audits.
“It’s
clear that the President, the IRS, and the Secretary of Treasury are scrambling
to protest that they are not going to increase audits on people making less
than $400,000. However, when given the opportunity to vote on the Senate
floor and put into binding statute that increased funds could not be used to
increase audits on those making less than $400,000 per year, every single
Democratic senator voted no. When I offered my amendment to simply make
it clear that the $80 billion being given to the IRS–six times its current
annual budget–could not be utilized to audit people making less than $400,000,
the most they would agree to was to say they did not ‘intend’ to audit
them. That’s because they know from the analysis of the Joint Committee
on Taxation that most underreported income occurs among taxpayers earning less
than $200,000 per year, and from the Congressional Budget Office that they
cannot collect the $200 billion they are claiming without auditing people
making less than $400,000. If they truly do not intend to audit anyone
making less than $400,000, then they would have supported my amendment, turning
‘intent’ into binding statute.”
On August 7, Senator
Crapo offered an amendment during consideration of the “Inflation Reduction Act” to
prevent the IRS from using any of the $80 billion of funding for audits on
individuals and small businesses with taxable incomes below $400,000. Senate Democrats
rejected the amendment along party lines, 50-50.