'Highly suspicious': Democrats’ bill for beefed-up IRS means more audits for all, Taxpayers’ union exec warns
Average American taxpayer doesn’t have time, money to fight ‘growing’ government reach, Brandon Arnold says
IRS going to ‘squeeze taxpayers’ by ‘harassment’: Taxpayers’ union exec
National Taxpayers Union Executive Vice President Brandon Arnold argues more IRS audits and letters are coming for ‘all economic backgrounds.’
After Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen failed to dispute that more middle-class and low-income earners might face Internal Revenue Service scrutiny with the addition of 87,000 agents, one taxpayer union executive is sounding the alarm that more audits are coming under Democrats’ watch.
"The question is, how much juice can you get out of a lemon? And the answer is, how hard are you willing to squeeze? So how hard are they willing to squeeze taxpayers?" National Taxpayers Union Executive Vice President Brandon Arnold said on "Mornings with Maria" Tuesday.
"I think the most likely course of action here is an increase in audits, of course," he continued, "but it's also an increase in the number of letters that they send off to small businesses, taxpayers of all economic backgrounds."
With President Biden expected to sign the Inflation Reduction Act on Tuesday, which would allot $80 billion in IRS funding for 87,000 new agents, Arnold argued that Democrats’ math doesn’t add up after they’ve maintained that households making less than $400,000 per year won’t be impacted.
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According to the Congressional Budget Office, audits for taxpayers making less than $400,000 account for about $20 billion in revenue within the Inflation Reduction Act.
"So how can a provision that has no impact to the amount of audits, according to Democrats, have a $20 billion impact, according to the CBO? It just doesn't make sense if you believe the Democrats," Arnold said.
With Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act funding about 87,000 new IRS agents, National Taxpayers' Union Executive Vice President Brandon Arnold warns the expansion of government is "highly suspicious" on "Mornings with Maria" Tuesday, August 16, 2022. (Getty Images)
Even if the IRS happens to be wrong in instances where the taxpayer is correct, Arnold explained, the agency will still see revenue gains.
"A lot of taxpayers don't want to fight the IRS. They don't have the time, they don't have the money to fight the IRS," Arnold said. "So they'll roll over and pay those relatively small amounts, and that'll squeeze a lot of money out of taxpayers just by harassment."
The union executive also questioned how the IRS will find qualified staff that understands the complicated tax code, noting that the agency has been "way behind" on hiring targets in previous years.
"They've done a lousy job not only of helping taxpayers, but also bringing more staff on board," Arnold pointed out. "The notion that they can hire 87,000 new individuals, even over the course of several years, is highly suspicious."
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Democrats’ inflation bill ‘just doesn’t make sense,’ taxpayers’ union exec warns
National Taxpayers Union Executive Vice President Brandon Arnold discusses discrepancies around Democrats’ claim that the hiring of 87,000 IRS agents won’t increase the number of new audits.
Democrats’ inflation bill means big government is getting even bigger, according to the tax expert.
"The fact is they're growing the government, they're growing the reach of the government, and they're growing the impact that the government is going to have on small businesses and taxpayers of all stripes on a regular basis," Arnold said.