Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of California said Tuesday that a massive expansion of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was justified due to unpaid taxes.
“Right now, actually, we have lost $7 billion over this last decade from those who have not paid their taxes,” Chu told MSNBC host Chris Jansing after claiming that Republicans “starved” the IRS of resources.
The Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden signed into law in August, included $80 billion for the IRS to hire up to 87,000 new agents. Some experts claimed that the expanded IRS would primarily target small businesses.
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“In the Inflation Reduction Act that Democrats passed, we gave $80 billion for the Internal Revenue Service to be able to handle the audits more fairly. As a result, there will be audits, but of those making over $400,000,” Chu said. “Those making under $400,000 will not be subject to this increased audit system. And so, we believe that this will make things fair, and also it will make sure that our government gets the money that it should get from the high-income earners of this country.”
The IRS came under fire after ProPublica received and published tax information on some of the wealthiest Americans in 2021, and a similar leak involving conservative organizations occurred in 2013. An investigation into the leak is ongoing.
The agency also came under fire for allegedly targeting the Tea Party during the Obama Administration. Lois Lerner, a central figure in the scandal, faced no criminal charges as a result of the scandal.
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