In The NewsWhite House Watch

CBO: Yes, More Americans Making Under $400K Will Get Audited By The IRS

https://dailycaller.com/
  • White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made an inaccurate statement when she told reporters “No. Very clear. No.” in response to a question about whether “anyone making under $400,000” would face new audits.
  • The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about $4 billion in revenue over the next 10 years can be traced in part to new auditing efforts funded by the Inflation Reduction Act targeting taxpayers that report less than $400,000.
  • “Some taxpayers reporting income of less than $400,000 on their tax return … will be found to have more income than they reported,” the CBO said.

Despite claims from Biden administration officials that new funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not increase the auditing burden on individuals and small businesses, a Friday letter from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reveals new auditing activity targeting taxpayers who report less than $400,000 per year will be expected to contribute to about $4 billion in revenue.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Aug. 10 directed the IRS to not use the $79 billion funding increase granted to the organization in the Inflation Reduction Act to increase the “share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters “No. Very Clear. No.” when asked if there would be new audits on “anyone” making less than $400,000 per year, and Yellen herself said that “small business[es] or households making less than $400,000 per year will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited,” in the directive’s announcement.

However, the CBO now expects that new auditing efforts targeting individuals making less than $400,000 per year will partially account for $4 billion of $180 billion in revenue over the next 10 years, alongside reduced administrative costs, according to a letter containing updated revenue projections written by CBO Director Phillip Swagel. This expectation accounts for Yellen’s directive, with the CBO estimating that if the Inflation Reduction Act had included language prohibiting new audits on those reporting less than $400,000, the IRS would expect about $4 billion less in revenue than if it only followed Yellen’s directive.

“Some taxpayers reporting income of less than $400,000 on their tax return, for whom the proposed amendment would have barred audits using the new funding, will be found to have more income than they reported—in some cases, income greater than $400,000—if they are audited,” said the CBO, clearly stating that the IRS is expected to use “new funding” for the purpose of auditing additional taxpayers.

Heritage Foundation economist EJ Antoni stressed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that new funding could still be used for enforcement activity that isn’t auditing, such as document matching. The letter also noted that without Yellen’s directive, which Antoni noted is not a law and could be changed at any time by the director or a potential replacement, the amount of revenue generated from audits could jump as high as $20 billion.

The CBO originally estimated that new funding for the IRS would lead to a revenue increase of $203.7 billion over the next 10 years, but cut that expectation by $23 billion to $180.4 billion in the letter.

IRS spokesman Anthony Burke declined to comment over the phone on the CBO director’s letter, and did not immediately respond to a DCNF email containing follow-up questions. IRS spokesman Raphael Tulino referred the DCNF to an Aug. 16 statement by IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig that did not contain any comments about auditing.

The White House did not immediately respond to a DCNF request for comment.

UPDATE: This piece has been updated to clarify that new audits are contributing to the expected $4 billion in additional revenue, not that they are solely responsible for it, which was not made obvious in the original version of this article.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Support Conservative Daily News with a small donation via Paypal or credit card that will go towards supporting the news and commentary you've come to appreciate.

Rich Mitchell

Rich Mitchell is the editor-in-chief of Conservative Daily News and the president of Bald Eagle Media, LLC. His posts may contain opinions that are his own and are not necessarily shared by Bald Eagle Media, CDN, staff or .. much of anyone else. Find him on twitter, facebook and

Related Articles

2 Comments

  1. The Biden Administration has already weaponized the FBI, the DOJ, the CIA and even the DOD against the political opposition. The weaponization of the IRS began under Obama; remember Lois Lerner? Now it is just blatant and overt. In the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” there is 80 billion dollars (that we don’t have) to add 87,000 more IRS agents. Biden lied and said that the only increase in taxes would be on those making over $400,000. Would we need to double the size of the IRS to audit the 1.8% of the population that makes over $400,000? Everyone will be paying more taxes. Historically over half of the IRS audits are on people making 75,000 or less. So it’s another lie and they are clearly coming again for the middle class.

    Aside from the 80 billion for the IRS, there’s another 290 billion for “Green New Deal” subsidies and slush funds. Then, Biden just sent out an illegal executive order for 300 billion to buy votes for cancelling student debt. It’s all inflationary government “money printing”. As the country collapses further under massive inflation and taxes and the middle class is destroyed, Americans will beg for more government “help” which means more government control. The new government policies (already being put in place) will purge the military, businesses, and, of course, the government of any opposition. The Mainstream and Social Media is obviously complicit. Coup complete. We will become a country ruled by rich Democrat “elites” in collusion with select compliant, monolithic corporations and the poor masses that will own nothing. Just like every other Socialist/Communist state in history.

Back to top button