U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Internal Revenue Service commissioner on Wednesday that if the Inflation Reduction Act becomes law additional IRS resources should not be used to increase audit rates on taxpayers making under $400,000 a year.

"This means that, contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited," Yellen said in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.

With the Democrats' economic and health package passed in the Senate and moving to the House for a vote, the almost $80 billion in IRS funding is raising concerns about the agency's plans for audits.

In a recent letter to the Senate, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said the proposed increase in funding is "absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans."

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the investment in the IRS is estimated to generate $203.7 billion in revenue from 2022 to 2031. Critics worry that the agency's heightened enforcement could have a negative impact on average Americans.

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