GOP's cut to IRS funding in debt limit plan would backfire

[RAB910]

Congressional analysts say dinging the agency would put the U.S. $120B deeper in the hole.

Republicans say they’re trying to reduce government red ink but their demands to cut IRS funding as part of a debt limit deal would actually worsen the deficit.

Forecasters generally agree that beefing up tax enforcement is a money maker for the Treasury because auditors bring in far more cash than it costs to employ them.

Republicans’ proposal to rescind $71 billion in IRS funding pushed through by Democrats last year would cut projected tax receipts by $191 billion over the next decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates.

The result: The government would find itself an additional $120 billion in the hole.

MORE

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/22/gop-irs-cuts-debt-limit-00098200#:~:text=Republicans'%20proposal%20to%20rescind%20%2471,nonpartisan%20Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20estimates.

[jimfields33]

1. They cut it from 80 billion to 78.9 billion

Over ten years, that’s pennies basically.

[EYESORE 9001]

2. I don't believe that's the point

Sure, the funding cut is a small outlay, but that funding would hire more agents who would bring in more than enough to earn their keep. Small cuts up front diminish returns down the road.

[GreenWave]

3. Hire AI.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Are you sure about that figure? The media says it's a $20 billion cut

Cut Internal Revenue Service funding: The agreement would cancel the total fiscal year 2023 staffing funding request that the House GOP says would go for new IRS agents, according to the fact sheet.

House Republicans have been determined to jettison the roughly $80 billion in IRS funding contained in the Inflation Reduction Act that Democrats passed last year. The GOP lawmakers argue that the money will be used to hire an army of new agents to audit Americans, but the agency says it will also be used to support operations, modernize customer service technology and assist taxpayers.

The deal would repurpose $10 billion from fiscal 2024 and another $10 billion from fiscal 2025 appropriations to be used in non-defense areas, according to the White House source.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/27/politics/whats-in-the-debt-ceiling-deal/index.html

Biden and Democrats secured $80 billion for a decade in new funding to help the Internal Revenue Service enforce the tax code for wealthy Americans in last year's Inflation Reduction Act, a move the administration said would yield $200 billion in additional revenue over the next 10 years.

The IRS earmarked the money for hiring thousands of new agents, and the extra tax revenue they generated was expected to offset a slew of climate-friendly tax credits.

The new legislation and subsequent appropriations would shift $10 billion in each of calendar years 2024 and 2025 in funding away the Internal Revenue Service. But administration officials believe the IRS can make do in the near term since it was funded over a 10-year period.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/whats-debt-ceiling-deal-biden-mccarthy-are-negotiating-2023-05-26/

This seems to be saying a published version had the low figure for the cut, but the White House admits the higher figure is what will happen:

Included in the bill was the text, "Of the unobligated balances of amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for activities of the Internal Revenue Service … as of the date of the enactment of this Act, $1,389,525,000 are hereby rescinded." So, that's about $1.4 billion of the roughly $80 billion (over a decade) of funding for the agency that was promised in the Inflation Reduction Act.

It is worth noting that according to a White House press call and reports from Republican House leaders, the Biden administration agreed to roughly $20 billion in cuts ($10 billion in FY24, $10 billion from FY25). That agreement is not explicitly reflected in the bill's text but is expected to be in the final version.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2023/05/29/debt-ceiling-agreement-lifts-student-loan-pause-cuts-some-irs-funding/?sh=6680d64319ef

[Martin68]

7. The fact that Republicans tried to cut the IRS budget by any amount is proof of their hypocrisy.

[Wounded Bear]

5. That's kind of the point. They know that...

but, of course, the "money saved" is being saved by the "right people."

[Martin68]

6. Republicans' move to cut IRS funding is proof that they are not interested in reducing the debt.

Furthermore, it is proof that they are only interested in forcing through politically unpopular GOP policy anti-tax and anti-safety net priorities by blackmailing the United States with economic catastrophe because they do not have enough votes to achieve those aims democratically.

[gordianot]

8. Other than rhetoric when have republicans ever been concerned by deficits?

[dawg]

9. They don't care.

n/t

[stopdiggin]

10. well, of COURSE it would

an absolute no-brainer (the kind that grade school kids can ferret out).

This is just another example of Rs 'hating the government', and owning libs - regardless of the completely transparent negative effect that ensues. Nobody is under any misapprehension here.

[RAB910]

12. They are protecting the wealthy tax cheats that own them

[Beartracks]

11. Republicans' claims are always bullshit theater and ignorance.

Always.

===========

[DemocraticPatriot]

13. YES, of COURSE---- they only want to protect their wealthy

TAX CHEATS who give money to themselves and their party... WE KNOW what this is about...

[Mopar151]

14. The Stinking Rich are smug and greedy.

They constantly complain about "the poors" not paying their share. Any meaningful economic reform or social net is denounced as"socialisim", "communisim", or Woke".