Month: August 2022

Americans who earn less than $75,000 per year are slated to receive 60% of the additional tax audits expected under Democrats’ spending package, according to an analysis released by House Republicans.

The analysis, which is a conservative estimate based upon recent audit rates and tax filing data, shows that individuals with an annual income of $75,000 or less would be subject to 710,863 additional Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits while those making more than $1 million would receive 52,295 more audits under the bill. The legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, would roughly double the IRS’ budget to increase enforcement and, therefore, federal tax revenue.

“Value shoppers at Walmart and other retailers, already struggling with higher prices and more expensive fuel to drive to the store, will get hit with 710,000 additional audits thanks to the Manchin-Biden Democrat bill,” House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Kevin Brady , R-Texas, said in a statement after releasing the study.

“Every retailer in the US who cares about their hard-hit customers should be fighting to block this unnecessary harassment of hard-working Americans,” he added.

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: WHAT TAX HIKES ARE IN THE BILL?

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig testifies before the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee on March 17, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Overall, the IRS would conduct more than 1.2 million more annual audits of Americans’ tax returns, according to the analysis. Another 236,685 of the estimated additional audits would target individuals with an annual income between $75,000 and $200,000.

To boost tax enforcement, the Inflation Reduction Act would appropriate more than $79 billion in additional funds to the IRS over the next decade, nearly doubling the agency’s current budget. The IRS is expected to hire tens of thousands more agents to enhance enforcement efforts that are projected to increase revenue by $124 billion.

In response to criticism about the expected uptick in tax audits under the bill, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said Thursday that “audit rates” will not increase relative to recent years.

US ECONOMY ENTERS TECHNICAL RECESSION AFTER GROWTH TUMBLES 0.9% IN THE SECOND QUARTER

The legislation doesn’t explicitly guarantee that Americans making under $400,000 won’t see tax increases under the IRS provision. The bill states that it is not “intended” to increase rates for taxpayers who aren’t in the top 1% of earners.

“There is language in this bill that provides some guidelines, but it’s not at all a guarantee,” William McBride, the vice president of federal tax and economic policy at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, told FOX Business in an interview. “It indicates that the intent of the increased spending is not to target those earning less than $400,000. But intent is a somewhat squishy word.”

Sen. Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer were the lead architects of the Inflation Reduction Act which passed the Senate on Sunday. (F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The fact of the matter is most returns report income under $100,000,” he continued. “That’s where the money is, so to speak.”

McBride added that middle-class Americans aren’t able to afford the same resources as wealthy individuals to avoid scrutiny.

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“There are certainly more resources as you go up the income scale, or more expertise, and the IRS knows it,” he told FOX Business.

“They will need to increase the audit rates on middle-class and low-income folks to get the sort of revenues they’re claiming from this,” McBride said. “People who don’t have the resources get a letter in the mail from the IRS threatening them – what are they going to do? It might be an increase of a few bucks, a few hundred bucks that the IRS is requesting. Rather than go out and try to get a lawyer to fight it, they generally pay it.”

The White House referred FOX Business back to Rettig’s comments.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Republican lawmakers and officials accused the Biden administration on Monday night of weaponizing the Justice Department for political ends after former President Donald Trump revealed that the FBI had searched his Florida home.

Allies were quick to back Trump’s claim that the unprecedented search for a former president’s home was politically motivated, with some vowing to take action on Capitol Hill.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, said the Justice Department had reached “an intolerable state of weaponized politicization” and vowed that Republicans would conduct oversight of the department if they win back the chamber in the November midterm elections.

“Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar,” McCarthy said in a statement.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who leads the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, tweeted that the search was part of a history of the Biden administration’s “going after” its political opponents, without providing any supporting details. Scott also demanded answers about the FBI’s actions, insisting that the bureau “must explain what they were doing today & why.”

A source familiar with the matter said the search was tied to classified documents Trump is alleged to have taken with him from the White House to his Palm Beach resort in January 2021.

A separate source said it is the Trump team’s understanding that the investigation is related to the transfer of documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago and that agents seized several boxes of documents.

The Republican National Committee’s chair, Ronna McDaniel, suggested the FBI activity was a partisan attack.

“Countless times we have examples of Democrats flouting the law and abusing power with no recourse,” McDaniel said in a statement, suggesting the only way to stop Democrats “is to elect Republicans in November.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump pressured to help carry out his plan to overturn the 2020 election, also slammed the Justice Department.

“No former president of the United States has ever been subject to a raid of their personal residence in American history,” he tweeted Tuesday. “After years where FBI agents were found to be acting on political motivation during our administration, the appearance of continued partisanship by the Justice Department must be addressed.”

“Yesterday’s action undermines public confidence in our system of justice and Attorney General Garland must give a full accounting to the American people as to why this action was taken and he must do so immediately,” he wrote.

Other Republicans raised concerns about the potential electoral implications, both in November and in 2024.

“We’re 100 days away from midterm elections. President Trump is likely going to run again in 2024. No one is above the law. The law must be above politics,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina tweeted. “However, launching such an investigation of a former President this close to an election is beyond problematic.”

Republicans who are considered potential White House contenders in 2024 also weighed in.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested the search was “another escalation” in an effort to wield political power against the administration’s adversaries, “while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem also referred to the search as an example of the “unprecedented political weaponization” of the Justice Department, adding that investigations into Trump by the agency over the years were “un-American.”

A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment on the FBI search, and the White House said it was not given a heads up.

“We did not have notice of the reported action and would refer you to the Justice Department for any additional information,” a White House official said.

Vaughn Hillyard and rebecca shabad contributed.

President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act on the South Lawn of the White House on August 9. The legislation is aimed at boosting the domestic production of semiconductors.

Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act on the South Lawn of the White House on August 9. The legislation is aimed at boosting the domestic production of semiconductors.

Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Biden on Tuesday heralded legislation that will pump almost $53 billion into research and manufacturing of semiconductor chips, which power everything from medical devices and cars to computers and weapons systems, as a “once-in-a-generation investment in America itself.”

“Today America is delivering, and I honest to God believe that 50, 75, 100 years from now, people who will look back on this week, they’ll know that we met this moment,” Biden said ahead of signing the CHIPS and Science Act, short for Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act. The ceremony was attended by chief executives of Lockheed Martin, Intel, HP, Micron, and Advanced Micro Devices, along with union leaders and lawmakers.

The legislation provides $10 billion to invest in regional technology hubs across the country and a 25% investment tax credit for expenses for manufacturing of semiconductors and related equipment. It also authorizes roughly $100 billion in spending over five years on scientific research, including more than $80 billion for the National Science Foundation.

This was a week intended to be full of victory laps as Biden emerged from his COVID isolation just as Senate Democrats passed a signature climate, health care and tax package. But it was overshadowed on Monday night by the news that FBI agents had searched the home of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.

The unusual search prompted cries of political interference from conservative lawmakers. Those allegations have not been substantiated. A White House official said they did not receive notice of the search, and referred questions to the Justice Department. Biden did not take questions at the event.

Biden also plans to sign off on the Senate’s ratification clearing the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO on Tuesday. And on Wednesday, the White House plans an event for Biden to sign off on new funding for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits and their survivors.

Semiconductor makers are planning big expansions in the United States

The CHIPS bill is aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips in a bid to stay competitive with China. According to the Congressional Research Service, nearly four-fifths of global manufacturing capacity was in Asia as of 2019.

Countering China’s economic might has been one of Biden’s top priorities since taking office. The new law will help make investments in strategic assets to do this, said John Mezzalingua, CEO of JMA Wireless, who was at the event.

“The United States has finally woken up to what the Chinese Communist Party has known for a long time – that 5G will become the central nervous system that connects and controls all other infrastructure,” Mezzalingua said in a statement. “The free world will depend on it – our homes, schools, jobs, water systems, electrical grids, transportation networks, manufacturing, and military.”

During his remarks, Biden described how the lack of domestic capacity for semiconductor manufacturing contributed to inflation when factories abroad shut down during the coronavirus pandemic.

He pushed back on criticism of subsidizing the semiconductor industry, saying the law is “not handing out blank checks to companies.”

“I’m ordering my administration to be laser-focused on the guardrails that will protect taxpayers dollars,” Biden said. “It means making sure that companies partner with community colleges and technical schools, offer training and apprenticeship programs, and work with small minority-owned businesses. We’ll have the power to take back any federal funding if the companies don’t meet these commitments required by the bill.”

The White House promoted investments in American semiconductor manufacturing that companies have announced, including a $40 billion pledge from Micron in memory chip manufacturing, and a $4.2 billion investment by Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries to expand production. Qualcomm announced it will increase semiconductor production domestically by 50% over the next five years.

“We’re going to construct an entire semiconductor ecosystem right here in the United States of America,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at the White House event.

This bill is the latest piece of bipartisan legislation to make it to Biden’s desk, following gun safety and infrastructure legislation.

Seventeen Senate Republicans voted in favor of the legislation. 24 House Republicans also voted for the bill, bucking party leadership who attempted to whip against the bill as part of a political fight over a Democratic deal on a climate and tax bill.

The nurse accused of killing five people last week when her Mercedes plowed into traffic at a busy Windsor Hills intersection had been involved in 13 previous crashes, Los Angeles County prosecutors alleged Monday in charging her with murder.

Authorities revealed new details about Thursday’s crash and about the driver, Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, whose permanent address is in Texas and who is currently renting a room in Los Angeles while working as a traveling registered nurse.

Prosecutors said they are reviewing multiple previous crashes linked to Linton — both in and out of California — including one in 2020 that involved bodily injury in which two cars were totaled. They provided few additional details, however.

Linton’s attorney, Halim Dhanidina, asked the court Monday to continue her arraignment to October because he is reviewing her out-of-state history of “documented profound mental health issues.” Dhanidina did not elaborate on those issues but said the Windsor Hills crash could be linked to them.

Here’s what we know:

the crash

California Highway Patrol officers investigate a fiery crash where multiple people were killed near a Windsor Hills gas station on Thursday.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Surveillance video just before Thursday’s deadly crash shows a dark-colored Mercedes barreling down La Brea Avenue at high speed as dozens of cars cross on Slauson Avenue in Windsor Hills. Prosecutors say Linton was behind the wheel.

The Mercedes does not appear to slow before running a red light shortly after 1:30 pm The light had been red for nine seconds before the car barreled through the intersection, slamming into multiple cars, prosecutors said. The Mercedes burst into flames and hurtled into a light pole, where it came to rest. After the crash, a streak of fire burned on the ground, and billowing smoke could be seen from miles away.

Prosecutors say Linton was speeding as fast as 90 mph.

At least six vehicles were involved in the crash, according to California Highway Patrol investigators. In addition to the fatalities, eight people were injured.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said there is no evidence of any alcohol use by Linton at this point.

In announcing charges against her Monday, he declined to discuss what led to the crash, saying it was still under investigation and he was “not going to get into the details.”

The aftermath

Candles, balloons and flowers at a street memorial to victims of a deadly crash at the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues in Windsor Hills.

(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

The impact of the crash and fire caused it killed 23-year-old Asherey Ryan; her 11-month-old child, Alonzo Quintero; her boyfriend, Reynold Lester; and their unborn child. Ryan was 8½ months pregnant when she was killed. The boy she was carrying had been named Armani Lester, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Two additional women killed in the crash have yet to be identified.

Linton was hospitalized with moderate injuries for several days before being taken into police custody.

Photographs posted online after the crash appear to show Linton sitting on the curb with a bloody arm. She seems to be wearing hospital scrub pants and a shirt that has writing on the breastplate and sleeve.

Images from the scene show massive front-end damage to the Mercedes, which rammed headfirst into a light pole. A law enforcement source told The Times that Linton suffered a broken foot and broken wrist in the collision, but the car’s advanced air bag systems for a front-end collision seem to have protected her from the worst of the impact.

A specialized CHP accident investigation team is extracting data from the Mercedes’ computers that capture speed, braking and acceleration.

The charges

Linton was charged Monday with six counts of murder and five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter. The vehicular manslaughter charges are for the deaths of the four adults and the baby, who was about two weeks shy of his first birthday. Ryan’s unborn child cannot be included in those charges.

Linton faces up to life in prison if convicted of all charges.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Natalie Stone denied her bail, which previously had been set at $9 million, at the request of the district attorney’s office, which said she is a flight risk. Linton was set to leave LA and travel to Hawaii for work, prosecutors said.