Poll: Voters Say IRS Enlargement Will Hit Middle Class
December 11, 2021 | District of Columbia
By a 2-1 margin, voters believe additional IRS funding for auditing and tax law enforcement will impact the middle-class, despite Democrats’ claims that it would be aimed at the wealthy. According to a new poll by HarrisX, 58 percent of voters believe that the Democrats’ plan to supersize the IRS would impact the middle class, compared to just 23 percent who believe it’d be limited to the wealthy.
Out of nearly $80 billion in new IRS funding in Democrats’ reconciliation bill, $44.9 billion, more than half, will go directly towards “enforcement.” The agency will receive a comparatively meager $1.93 billion in funding for “taxpayer services” which include things like pre-filing assistance and education, filing and account services, and taxpayer advocacy services. That is a 23-1 ratio of spending on “enforcement” vs. “taxpayer services.”
President Biden and congressional Democrats have claimed that this increase and enforcement will be limited to the wealthy.
Respondents were asked the following:
Do you think the additional IRS funding for auditing and tax law enforcement, which is supposed to be aimed at wealthy, would be limited to that group or would the middle class also be impacted?
58 percent of respondents said that increased enforcement will impact the middle class, while just 23 percent believed it would be limited to the wealthy. … (Excerpts from Americans for Tax Reform)
