The first major accomplishment of the Biden administration that Democrats were able to make was the American Rescue Plan, which was a waste of money and an incredibly inflationary project. Even leading economists warned about its effects.
One of the most important provisions of the spending bill was a reduction in the threshold at which financial transactions are required to be reported.
"The IRS reminded people who use third-party platforms like PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo to report payments of $600 or more.
This rule applies to individuals who are part-time workers or run a side business. Before 2022, transactions made through third-party platforms were generally required to be reported to the IRS if they exceeded $20,000. Individuals also had to report earnings if they had over 200 transactions.
The spending bill's American Rescue Plan Act made it clear that financial transactions that exceeded $600 after March 11, 2021, are required to be submitted to the IRS."
Critics of the Democrats' bill claimed that this rule could disproportionately affect people who are working side jobs. In 2022, the Democrats' biggest achievement was the Inflation Reduction Act, despite the fact that it was an inapt name.
The spending bill's provision doubling the size of the IRS was one of the most talked-about provisions. It would allow the agency to step up its efforts against people who are failing to report their financial transactions.
Despite their insistence that the $80 billion injection of steroids into the IRS would not hurt middle-class Americans, Democrats refused to make amendments to ensure that the new resources would not affect them. A former IRS chief revealed that he was surprised by how much money Democrats had spent on the agency.
Senate Democrats blocked efforts by the Republicans to force Democrats to make good on their pledges to protect the IRS. Democrats tried to reassure middle-class Americans that they were not worried about the agency, and they told them that they would be fine. A new study revealed that the average person in the country is still facing the IRS's problems regardless of the rhetoric from the Democrats.
Free Beacon:
"A study conducted by a university revealed that the poor were more likely to be audited by the IRS in 2022 than middle-class earners and rich individuals. The data-gathering center of the university found that no group received more scrutiny from the agency than individuals who made below $25,000.
The agency audited 1.27 percent of the families that claimed the earned income tax credits. These families were among the poorest in the country.
In total, the IRS audited just 0.12 percent of taxpayers in 2022. This means that the poorest families were more than 550 percent more likely to be visited by the agency at their door. They also received more regular audits than families with income over $1 million.
The IRS audited a total of 626,204 taxpayers in 2022, out of the 164 million individuals who filed returns during that year. The majority of those who were audited were individuals in the lowest income group. These numbers raise questions about the agency's strategy as it prepares to receive $80 billion in additional funding from the Biden administration.
According to Republicans, the IRS's hiring of 87,000 new workers will lead to more audits of Americans, especially the poor and middle-class. The agency did not provide the data it collects on its audits, and a university data-gathering organization went to court to force the IRS to reveal this information."
After winning the House of Representatives in the midterm election, Republicans said they intend to pass a bill that would defund the 87,000 new IRS employees. Although it won't be able to become law, the damage that the Democrats have done to the working people of the country will compel them to own it.
Speaker McCarthy: "Our very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents." pic.twitter.com/nliLLxraC2
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 7, 2023
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Town Hall.
