The IRS would be unleashed on middle-class Americans under a bill co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), while keeping tax loopholes open for billionaires and their multinational corporations.
Schumer and Manchin have a strategy in place to significantly expand IRS investigations and criminal prosecutions to the tune of tens of billions of dollars — almost all of which would be spent on going after middle-class Americans who are being squeezed by inflation.
The Journal’s editorial board explains the plan:
“The bill sets aside $45.6 billion for “enforcement,” with “litigation,” “criminal investigations,” “investigative technology,” and a new fleet of tax-collector automobiles among the listed categories. The end result will be more audits, civil claims, and criminal referrals.”
“Of course, the main targets will be the middle- and upper-middle class since that’s where the money is. According to Congress’s official tax scorekeeper, from 78% to 90 percent of the money obtained through understated income would most likely come from people making less than $200,000 per year. Only 4% to 9% of revenue would come from those with earnings above $500,000.”
“The IRS understands that wealthy people hire attorneys and accountants, who make litigation time-consuming and dangerous. It also knows that if the IRS investigates fraud in the earned-income tax credit system, despite an estimated $18 billion in fraudulent payments each year, Democrats would howl.”
Tax cuts that primarily benefit the rich and their multinational corporations would go unchallenged.
Billionaires would profit from the Schumer-Manchin bill’s trillions in green energy tax credits, which they would use to reduce their companies’ annual tax payments. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon has a long history of using this approach to minimize its corporate income taxes to nearly nothing.
