Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks from Washington, D.C. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Internal Revenue Service in a letter Wednesday to avoid using any new funding from the Democrats' new health care and climate bill to increase the number of audits for middle-class Americans.
The big picture: Yellen's letter follows GOP charges that the Inflation Reduction Act, which adds about $80 billion to the IRS' budget over 10 years, will cause more audits for the middle class.
What she said: Yellen told IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in a letter that any new personnel or auditors hired should not be used to increase the number of audits for small businesses or American households making less than $400,000 per year.
- "This means that, contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited," she said in the letter.
What's next: The Democrat-controlled House still needs to approve the legislation, which passed the Senate last weekend.