Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition of H.R. 23, the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act.

Hard-working families pay 99 percent of the taxes they owe, while the uber wealthy, the 1 percent, has the ability to hide more than 20 percent of their income from the IRS each year. Tonight, the first bill I will vote on is designed to help the 1 percent avoid paying their fair share. House Republicans are protecting sophisticated tax cheats and greedy corporations, and they do so under the guise of cutting the budget of the Internal Revenue Service.

My office has been working with many families who have experienced financial hardship while waiting months for the IRS to process their tax refunds--which are often thousands of dollars. Why? Because the agency has less auditors than in 1954 and tax returns are processed on computer systems designed more than 40 years ago. This is a direct result of years of attacks and budget cuts by Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration.

Last year, Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act which includes investments to replace retiring taxpayer service workers and update aging technology to increase efficiencies so hardworking taxpayers can receive prompt refunds and service.

Republicans should be helping the Americans waiting on hold for hours to get their tax refunds instead of making it easier for tax cheats to skip out on paying their fair share.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 23, the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act. This bill would rescind $72 billion of the $79.6 billion appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service to refine its services and technology and reform its enforcement practices of the federal tax code. The passage of H.R. 23 would widen the already massive tax gap and unfairly relieve the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans from paying their fair share of taxes.

The historic passage of the Inflation Reeducation Act under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and signed by President Biden authorized $79.6 billion to allow the Internal Revenue Service to bolster taxpayer services while firmly and fairly enforcing the federal tax code.

Through the implementation of the IRA, we continue to help the millions of Americans who most depend on federal government assistance and who contribute disproportionately to the federal revenues that pay for our government to operate.

Simply put, Americans who have the least should not be burdened with the responsibility to contribute the most. Every American--most importantly, the wealthiest among us--must pay what they rightfully owe to enable our government to function.

$45.6 billion of the authorized funds included in the Inflation Reduction Act were allocated for tax enforcement activities, including hiring more enforcement agents, providing legal support, and investing in investigating technologies.

These funds are necessary to bridge the unjust tax gap that Americans have been subject to for generations and will continue to endure under Republican leadership.

The entirety of the $79.6 billion is critical to cracking down on ultra-rich and corporate tax evaders who have avoided paying their fair share of taxes for years.

The passage of this bill would dismantle key components of the Inflation Reduction Act that have injected fairness into the enforcement of our tax system.

The IRA reduced rising costs for hardworking middle-class families and ensured that taxpayers are not left to foot the bill for wealthy tax cheats--both of which would be erased with the passage of this bill.

These unfair tax practices have gone on for far too long.

I urge all my colleagues to oppose this bill and see it for what it truly is:

an effort by Republicans to give tax breaks to the ultra-rich and the corporations who fund their campaigns, and

an effort to continue carrying out their distorted notion of America by decimating the programs set in place to help the Americans who depend on government assistance the most.

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