Hyperbolic GOP claims about IRS agents and audits

“Do you make $75,000 or less? Democrats’ new army of 87,000 IRS agents will be coming for you — with 710,000 new audits for Americans who earn less than $75k.”

— House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, in a tweet, Aug. 9

With a vote scheduled Friday in the House on the big spending package approved in the Senate, the GOP has focused its fire on provisions that would bolster the Internal Revenue Service with new funding to crack down on tax cheats.

But these numbers are a misfire, lacking significant context.

The Facts

We’re going to mostly focus on the audit claims, but let’s briefly address the alleged “army of 87,000 IRS agents,” as that number has spread rapidly across social media.

The 87,000 figure was plucked from a Treasury report released in May 2021 about how the administration hoped to address the “tax gap” — the difference between what is owed to the government and what is actually paid. That figure was believed to be at least $381 billion a year, with most of it because of underreporting of income, according to the nonpartisan Joint Tax Committee.