With the rising cost of gas, food, and energy, middle-income Americans shouldn't have to worry about the IRS looking over their shoulder. A newfound army of IRS agents would do exactly that. The Biden Administration maintains that no households bringing in less than $400,000 a year will receive additional audits. The Congressional Budget Office, the official agency within Congress that analyzes legislation, disagrees. Their analysis shows that the result of this bill being signed into law will be 1.2 million new audits annually, with 710,000 falling on Americans making less than $75,000 per year.
Another worrisome reality of the "Inflation Reduction" Act is that it will raise taxes on American businesses during a recession and worker shortage. The bill creates a new 15 percent minimum tax on book income for American businesses. Even worse, business owners are prevented from receiving tax deductions based on investments in equipment, research, and other developments to boost productivity and customer satisfaction. This new tax, estimated to be about $200 billion, is the kind of policy that leads to workers and consumers seeing stagnated economic growth and consumers suffering from increased prices.
American oil and gas producers should expect the same as the energy industry will receive $12 billion in new taxes. As basic economic theory indicates, these companies will absorb the increased tax rate by passing on the costs to American consumers. Further, the rate for both onshore and offshore oil and gas leases will see an increase, and a needless ban on gas development in the Eastern Gulf and areas of the Atlantic Ocean will receive an extension.
The anti-energy policies of the Biden Administration have already proven to be disastrous. We should be fighting to increase domestic energy production in a year that we have seen gas hit an all-time high in Wisconsin. Unfortunately for us, this bill provides the ingredients for that record to break once again. By doubling down on Green New Deal policies in the “Inflation Reduction” Act, the American people are again falling victim to President Biden's war on American energy.
The so-called "Inflation Reduction" Act fails to immediately reduce inflation and the budget deficit. Another reckless tax-and-spending spree is the last thing America needs.
Prior to voting against the "Inflation Reduction" Act, I took to the House floor to speak out against the harmful tax-and-spend policies in this bill because I oppose raising taxes on hardworking Americans to fund the addition of 87,000 new IRS agents and Green Deal New initiatives.
