WASHINGTON (AP) — After more than a decade of mostly losing, the Internal Revenue Service you can finally get that long-desired cash infusion in the Economic package that the democrats are working furiously to push through Congress before your August vacation.
Under a deal crafted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the bill would spend an additional $79.6 billion on the beleaguered agency over the next 10 years. The plan would generate an additional $203.7 billion in revenue for the federal government over that time period, for a net gain of more than $124 billion, the Congressional Budget Office projects.
As the Senate prepares to begin voting on the bill in the coming days, the IRS proposal has become a magnet for attacks from the GOP, testing Democratic unity as they try to deliver on climate priorities and of key medical attention before the fall midterms.
Democrats say the IRS investment is needed to ensure corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay what they owe in taxes. But Republicans warn it will lead to more scrutiny of small business owners and others already burdened enough.
The IRS has mostly been on the losing end of Congressional funding fights for the last twelve years. In April, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig told members of the Senate Finance Committee that the agency’s budget has decreased by more than 15% over the past decade when inflation is factored in and that the amount of full-time employees of 79,000 in the last fiscal year was close to 1974 levels.
Law enforcement personnel have been hit even harder, falling by 30% since 2010, even as the filing population increased.
“Every measure that matters to effective tax administration has suffered greatly in recent years, with deep deficiencies resulting from a lack of investment in human capital and information technology,” Rettig said.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., a longtime Senate Finance Committee member, said he hears the same thing from IRS commissioners every few years, regardless of whether they’re serving in a Republican or Democratic administration.
“They are begging us to provide some resources to the IRS so they can do their job,” Carper said.
Democrats see an opportunity to change that. More than half of his proposed spending increase would go to law enforcement. The next largest portion, $25.3 billion, would go to operational support such as rent, security and postage. Another $4.75 billion would go toward improving call-back services and other technology designed to improve customer service. And $3.2 billion would go to educational and pre-application assistance.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called the investment “essential as a tool to ensure we have sound fiscal policy.”
“This will give us an opportunity to increase the income of wealthy tax scammers who don’t pay what they owe,” Wyden said.
Republican lawmakers condemn the plan, describing a larger IRS as a means of harassing voters.
“In a time of inflation, the Democrats also want to spend $80 billion to nearly double the size of the IRS so they can take more money from the American people through harassment and audits, using taxpayer money to make life worse for Americans. taxpayers,” the Senate said. Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday.
“I think it’s terrible that they want to put together the Internal Revenue Service, make it bigger in an effort to go after, you know, families, farmers and small businesses and try to raise more money,” said Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican. – Wyoming. “It’s basically an extortion operation.”
One particular complaint is that the Democratic proposal should have put more resources into customer service rather than focusing on the app. the pandemic forced the IRS to temporarily close its processing facilities for health and safety reasons. That has led to unprecedented delays and challenges with the IRS still struggling to catch up.
“First, take care of good, honest taxpayers who are just trying to get basic assistance from the IRS,” said Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.
In a letter to lawmakers Thursday, Rettig emphasized that the package’s resources would return the IRS to historical standards in areas that challenge the agency. These include large corporations and high net worth taxpayers, as well as multinational taxpayers, where sophisticated and specialized equipment is needed to unpack complex structures. He also said that audit fees would not increase relative to recent years for those with less than $400,000 in annual income.
“These resources have nothing to do with increasing audit scrutiny of small businesses or middle-income Americans,” Rettig wrote.
CBO projections indicate that the IRS actions account for about one-sixth of the revenue raised by the bill, with that revenue going to help people buy private health coverage, boost federal investments in renewable energy such as wind and solar energy, and pay off debt, among other things.
It’s unclear what aspects of the Democratic tax proposals might change before the Senate completes work on the bill, but Wyden said he’s confident the boost in IRS spending will remain in the final package.
“I can tell you that, so far, I haven’t had any objections in the Democratic caucus to this provision to bolster the resources of the IRS so they can go after the wealthy who evade taxes,” Wyden said.