BREAKING: Ernst Announces Audit of IRS

WASHINGTON— In a speech on the Senate floor this afternoon, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) informed her colleagues and taxpayers in Iowa and across the country that the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has agreed to audit the IRS at her request to determine if the employees of the tax collecting agency have paid their own taxes.

Click here to watch Ernst’s full floor speech.

Ernst’s full remarks are below:

“Help Wanted!

“I see the signs in nearly every county I visit in Iowa on my 99 County Tour.

“Small businesses and public services are struggling to maintain the workforce that is vital to our communities.

“The Des Moines Public School District, for example, has over 100 vacancies and is providing $50,000 incentives for retiring teachers, nurses, and administrators to stay in school.

“Faced with a declining number of soldiers, the Iowa National Guard is offering signing bonuses to new recruits, along with other incentives to encourage current members to re-enlist.

“Police departments across the state are also facing recruitment challenges so the Iowa State Patrol is raising salaries and starting outreach efforts with kids as young as the sixth grade to get them to start thinking about careers in law enforcement now.

“And this need for essential workers, well, it isn’t limited to Iowa.

“America is facing a shortage of teachers, doctors, nurses, child care providers, construction workers, truck drivers, pilots, and even accountants.

“And with the Democrats’ latest tax-and-spend spree, a shortage of accountants is something taxpayers everywhere now need to be very concerned about.

“The Democrats’ response to the nationwide need for essential workers is to hire 87,000 new IRS agents.

“The reckless tax and spending bill passed by DC Democrats last month more than doubles the size of the IRS, which already has nearly 80,000 full time employees.

“So what are the new IRS agents being hired to do?

“Audit America, of course! 

“And very aggressively, if a recent job announcement on the agency’s website is any indication. 

“The IRS says it’s seeking armed accountants willing to participate in “life-threatening situations on the job.”

“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says with the supersized staff, the IRS audit rate “would rise for ALL taxpayers” regardless of income.

“CBO warns it will also result in audits of innocent Americans who have paid all of their taxes and don’t owe the IRS a cent.

“That’s right, even if you paid your taxes, you still could be subjected to an unfair and costly audit by the Biden administration’s army of IRS agents!

“Folks, Washington doesn’t need any more tax collectors, it needs to simplify the tax code.

“If it wasn’t so complicated to calculate your tax bill, it would be a lot easier to complete your return and avoid making mistakes.

“Ironically, hundreds of employees at the IRS itself may have willfully failed to pay their own tax bills, including tax collectors and even a criminal investigator.

“In total, 1,250 IRS employees were identified whom had not paid their tax bills in full or on time, by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

“More than 300 of these were repeat offenders!

“Yet, the tax collecting agency did little to discipline the tax evaders on its very own pay roll.

“The IRS staffers gave a variety of excuses for not paying their taxes, including forgetting to report all income or being unable to use TurboTax…yes, you heard that right.

“Folks, we have a real problem if the IRS staff who enforce the tax law aren’t paying their own taxes and can’t even understand how to properly fill out their own tax forms!

“I’ve heard enough of the excuses and these Washington double standards.

“That is why I have asked the Inspector General to audit the IRS to ensure that the tax collectors themselves are paying the taxes they owe.

“And, on behalf of taxpayers in Iowa and the rest of the country, I am grateful that the IG has agreed!

“Before Biden’s army of auditors starts harassing innocent taxpayers, let’s first make sure the tax collectors have paid their own taxes.

“And if the threat of being audited wasn’t bad enough, the reckless tax and spend bill also increases taxes, which will further add to the burden of small businesses already struggling with higher costs resulting from Bidenomics.

“And that’s the real issue—Washington’s misplaced priorities are creating problems for the rest of America.

“No one in Iowa that I talk to is begging for more IRS auditors.

“But I do hear about the urgent need for more teachers and day care providers because these folks are absolutely essential to communities across Iowa.

“The child care staffing crisis has an even bigger ripple effect on families because it can determine where, when, and even if a parent can work.

“Yet, four in five child care centers across the country are understaffed.

“This is particularly pressing for my home state, because we lead the nation in the percentage of families where both parents work away from home.

"Governor Kim Reynolds is working hard to increase the availability and affordability of child care and part of her plan is to pay recruitment and retention bonuses to child care providers to recognize them for their hard work.

“In addition, most of Iowa’s restaurants and bars are also short staffed, which is resulting in reduced hours of service for customers and also longer shifts for current employees.

“To retain and attract employees, restaurants are increasing benefits—like free meals, more flexible schedules, paid time off, and retirement contributions.

“That’s great news for hardworking Iowans.

“But it also increases the cost of doing business.

“So instead of increasing taxes on Iowa’s small businesses to pay for the IRS’s new army of auditors, Washington should allow job creators to keep more of their own earnings which can be put towards hiring more of the essential workers—whether that be child care providers, construction workers, or food service employees—who we all rely upon.

“That is the help that America really wants.

“And while my Democratic friends are working overtime to audit Americans; you can rest assured, that Republicans…we’re auditing the IRS!”

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