Fact Check: Joe Biden Falsely Claims Working, Middle Class Will Not ‘Pay a Penny More’ as Result of IRS Audits

CLAIM: While signing the “Inflation Reduction Act” into law on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said no Americans “earning less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in federal taxes” as a result of billions to drastically boost Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits.

VERDICT: False. The Inflation Reduction Act does not include any provisions requiring the IRS to avoid targeting working and middle class Americans with new IRS audits. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that about $20 billion will be squeezed from Americans earning less than $400,000 a year as a result of the audits.

“I’m keeping my campaign commitment. No one … no one earning less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in federal taxes,” Biden said, referencing his 2020 campaign talking point that vowed not to raise taxes on working and middle class Americans.

Despite the claim, Senate Democrats made sure to vote down Sen. Mike Crapo’s (R-ID) amendment to the Inflation Reduction Act that would have barred the IRS from targeting working and middle class Americans with the $80 billion that the plan includes for new audits.

The CBO estimates that the new IRS audits will take at least $20 billion from working and middle class Americans earning less than $400,000 a year, which is in addition to the billions already taken from this income group.

The likelihood of working and middle class Americans being targeted by the IRS as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act is so high that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is begging the agency to avoid going after those earning less than $400,000 a year.

White House Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein has said the administration cannot guarantee that no Americans earning under $400,000 a year will be audited by the IRS with the new funds.

Bernstein’s statement contradicts White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who falsely claimed that the plan does not allow for new IRS audits of Americans earning less than $400,000.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here. 

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