White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box Monday and was interviewed by host Brian Sullivan, who questioned him about the impact the Inflation Reduction Act will have on taxpayers.
If passed by the House of Representatives and signed into law by President Joe Biden, the legislation would add 87,000 IRS agents. Additionally, it would raise taxes on most Americans, despite promises not to increase taxes on those making less than $400,000.
"I want to be clear, is the president guaranteeing nobody making under $400,000 will be audited [by the new agents]?" asked Sullivan.
"No, no, no. That's not what I said. Nobody making under $400,000 will pay higher taxes under the Inflation Reduction Act," Bernstein said.
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"If they are doubling the size of the IRS then who are they gonna go after?" asked Sullivan, while also mentioning small businesses.
Bernstein did not answer the question regarding who the extra IRS agents would audit, and instead restated his pledge that people making under $400,000 per year will not pay more in taxes.
However, Fox News reported that according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), Bernstein's pledge is not true. According to the JCT, Americans making less than $10,000 per year would see a 0.3% tax hike starting in 2023. Overall, starting in 2023, taxes would increase by $16.7 billion for Americans earning less than $200,000.
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Bernstein argued that the legislation's stimulus of so-called green energy sources will spur economic growth and hence reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio.
"By investing and standing up a clean energy industry, manufacturing as the act does, that's going to generate more economic growth, spin off more revenues," Bernstein said.
Many Americans are hurting economically, as data published by the Department of Labor in July revealed inflation is at a record 40-year high.
Fox News' Kyle Morris and Jayme Chandler contributed to this report.
