Billionaire Elon Musk decided to poke some fun at fellow Americans on Thursday. Why? Because pretty much all of America is, even if annoyed with the new IRS hires, more or less going along with the whole thing despite their ancestors having revolted over the addition of a small stamp tax on goods.
And so Musk threw up a hilarious meme, one that shows a laughing Brit from the Mel Gibson movie “The Patriot” with a caption saying, “when the country that revolted over taxes hires 87,000 new IRS agents.”
Here that is:
Fate 🖤 Irony pic.twitter.com/RHZ9BEws7k
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2022
He certainly seems to have a point. Our ancestors revolted to defend their liberty and push back the ravenous horde of tax-collecting wolves…now few people even complain in public because they don’t want to make others “uncomfortable.” It’s absurd, something likely making those great men that founded our nation roll over in their graves.
Musk, in addition to the funny meme, added that he already gets “audited every year by default.” So yeah, he has reason to be angry: just imagine getting audited each and every year not because you do anything wrong but because you’re so successful and the leeches want to suck even more out of you.
Janet Yellen, for her part, claimed that small businesses and households making less than $400k won’t see an increase in the chance that they are audited, saying:
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“I direct that any additional resources — including any new personnel or auditors that are hired — shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels.
“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.”
However, all might not be what it seems with that statement, as “historical levels” could be much, much higher than many think. Such is what the Daily Wire reported, saying
Yellen did not mention, however, that “historical levels” of audits were significantly higher as recently as one decade ago. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, audit rates for Americans earning between $25,000 to $200,000 fell 76% between 2010 and 2019, while those earning less than $25,000 saw audit rates fall by 61%. Taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000 — representing those at the upper end of the Biden administration’s vow to not raise taxes for those earning less than $400,000 — saw a 92% decline in audits.
The report added that IRS officials “attributed the overall decline in audit rates to decreased funding, and therefore reduced staffing to conduct audits” — constraints which are directly addressed by the Inflation Reduction Act. The agency’s job description for new agents says that employees must “carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”
Yet Rettig vowed that his agency will “absolutely not” use its new employees to target middle-class Americans and small businesses. Instead, he promised that the new funding will create better information technology systems that will help Americans more easily comply with tax laws.
So get ready. Depending on what “historical levels” are, you could very well find yourself having to cart over boxes of receipts to the IRS agent prowling around your business. Let’s go Brandon!
By: Gen Z Conservative