Posted on 08/19/2022 1:01:56 PM PDT by John W
As a political messaging war rages over $80 billion in new Internal Revenue Service funding, a U.S. Treasury official is pushing back on an informal estimate that the money could cause Americans earning less than $400,000 to pay as much as $20 billion more in taxes over a decade.
Republicans have seized on a CBO estimate, claiming Democratic President Joe Biden’s recently enacted, sweeping tax, drugs and climate law would break his pledge not to increase taxes on middle-class Americans.
When the bill was being debated in the Senate, Republican Senator Mike Crapo introduced an amendment to prohibit any use of funds to audit Americans with taxable incomes below $400,000.
Responding to a request from Crapo, the CBO found that the proposed amendment would reduce revenues by $20 billion over a decade if it was enacted, his office said. A spokesperson for the CBO confirmed the figure. The amendment was rejected on a party-line vote.
Asked about the claims about middle-class taxes, Natasha Sarin, Treasury Department counselor for tax policy and administration, told Reuters this week that the CBO estimate assumed a threshold of $400,000 in reported taxable income before any audits, which would exclude the middle class. Sarin said those making $400,000 and up include far wealthier people who have hidden their incomes to lower taxable incomes below $400,000, sometimes even to zero -- the very people the Treasury is seeking to target for audits.
A significant portion of the $20 billion estimated by CBO would be recouped from wealthier people who are under-reporting their income, she said. "People are trying to look like they are under $400,000 when actually they are well above it," said Sarin, who as a University of Pennsylvania law professor did influential research here on policing tax evasion with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
(Excerpt) Read more at stocks.apple.com ...
Did anyone really expect anything less? Really?!
Higher prices for goods and services. Same as a tax.
When was the last time Biden’s Treasury Department was right about anything? My question is not “transitory”.
If that were true, why would they need to double (87,000) their workforce and give them all weapons?
Yeah the money will just fall out of the sky.
how many people report over 400k income?
Oh look, Crapo is pretending to look like a member of the opposition...../s
significant portion of the $20 billion estimated by CBO would be recouped from wealthier people who are under-reporting their income, she said. “People are trying to look like they are under $400,000 when actually they are well above it,” said Sarin,
so they are going to audit people under 400k
but hey we already know they are not reporting income that would put them above the 400k threshold even before the audit
the truth is they dont know
plenty of audits result in no change
but if you have ever bought or have been seen wearing a MAGA hat they are absolutely sure you are under reporting income
The IRS, like the FBI, is primarily a leftist political organization.
Would they be willing to be tossed in prison if wrong? If not, they are just toeing thw party line.
If you are one of the new IRS agents and you need to make your “quota”, who are you going to go after? The rich elite with an army of lawyers, political connections and accountants or Joe Six Pack that has no lawyers, political connections or accountants. Yep, you will go for Joe Six Pack, because you will never meet your yearly quota with the rich elite. Especially easy if you work in armed packs to bully and terrorize your target.
OK, so here’s what the treasury is stating as fact:
1) We, your totalitarian marxist overlords, are going to wipe out the middle class.
2) So, you morons, how can taxes be raised on a non-existent class of people?
That is the real treasury news flash.
I would go after not educated in college first, then skip any tax payer with accounting or STEM degrees and pick on all other graduates.
The law of diminishing returns says that for the first 10,000 new agents perhaps additional tax money is produced. The low hanging fruit gone the next 10,000 agents must really work to produce additional revenue.
When they pass 30,000 more agents the system will collapse because tax returns are scrutinized over and over perhaps auditing the same return 3 or 4 times.
The IRS will have to work down to the cash only economy inhabited by illegals that will prove Democrats are racists.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.