The bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal with 11 Republican senators on the board isn't just about building roads, bridges and broadband. It also includes the building of the Internal Revenue Service to $40 billion in 10 years.It would allow President Joe Biden to reach his $80 billion goal over a decade for additional funding to the IRS to hire more IRS agents and collect more money. The idea is that more IRS agents would help to collect more money and raise tax rates, so it could be considered that there would be more revenue.Although less than Biden's desire, the bipartisan agreement for $40 billion over 10 year would increase the IRS budget by more that one-third annually over its current fiscal year 2021 level (11.9 billion).The compromise of $1.2 trillion is still more focused on infrastructure than the $2.25 billion plan by Biden, which proposed spending about 5% on infrastructure. This includes public construction projects such as roads and bridges.Biden's original proposal included many non-infrastructure spending programs that were favored by his party's left, including subsidized daycare and green energy projects.Grover Norquist (president of Americans for Tax Reform), a group that supports lower taxes, advised Congress to be cautious about increasing the IRS budget.According to Norquist, it is wrong for Republicans to think that more IRS agents will increase revenue for pay-fors.He said that wealthy taxpayers may be taking advantage of legal loopholes in tax law. Increasing the IRS workforce won't change this reality.Who will they follow? The tax critic stated that Fortune 500 companies employ the most qualified accountants and lawyers.Cash-strapped businesses such as nail salons or food trucks are left. These are often small businesses that are often owned by immigrants. Biden may declare war on small businesses and immigrants but that won't generate a lot revenue.Bloomberg News reported last week, that thousands of auditors have been hired by the IRS' small-business and criminal investigations divisions in anticipation of an infrastructure cash injection to their budget. Bloomberg reports that the agency has lost approximately 17,000 auditors in the last decade.Norquist pointed out that a politicized IRS is a problem. Norquist cited the IRS targeting tea party groups and other conservative organisations during the Obama administration, as well as the politicized union to which IRS agents belonged, and the recent leakage of tax data to ProPublica.Norquist stated that the idea that any Republican or Democrat lawmaker votes to expand IRS and would reward lawlessness and corruption while cleaning it up is not a serious stewardship of tax dollars.Biden's administration cites a study by the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, that showed that the White House plan for increasing IRS funding would result in $480 billion per decade. Republican senators working with the White House to develop the plan are skeptical that it will generate that much extra revenue. They point out that Congressional Budget Office estimates are significantly lower.According to The Wall Street Journal, there is a Wharton study suggesting that you could get $400 billion. Then there's the CBO which says it has $63 billion over 10 years. So how can you reconcile that? stated Sen. Bill Cassidy (Republican from Louisiana).Senate Republicans who backed a bipartisan infrastructure bill claim that increased IRS enforcement can increase revenue. They project that increased enforcement will net $100 billion more over a ten-year period, which is only about 25% of the Biden White House estimate.Much of the compromise remains undefined. Biden's original proposal for $80 billion for the IRS would have created 87,000 new IRS agents. However, the compromise does not specify how many. Logically speaking, $40 billion would be about half as many.However, past infrastructure spending has not produced an economic boom.Five Republican senators visited the White House last week to assist in the negotiation of the plan. Biden stated initially that he would demand approval of a more partisan and costly plan from Democrats before signing the bipartisan bill. He later changed his mind.11 Republican senators have so far offered at least conditional support to the plan. Cassidy and Cassidy are also Sens. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Todd Young in Indiana, Jerry Moran, Kansas, Susan Collins, Richard Burr, Thom Tillis, Rob Portman, Ohio, Lindsey Graham, Mike Rounds, South Dakota, Mitt Romney, UtahDo you have a comment about this article? Send us an email at [email protected] with your comments. We may publish them in our We Hear You section. Include the article's URL or headline, along with your name, town, and/or state.
