- The White House argues stepping up IRS enforcement would net more new money than raising the gas tax.
- Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday it would "raise a great deal more."
- The administration also wants to avoid raising fees on electric-vehicle drivers while raising more from the wealthy.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pushed back against a gas tax proposal under consideration in the Senate, as she argued that ramping up IRS enforcement would net more revenue.
At a Monday press conference, Psaki said the administration had projected that the bipartisan group's planned gas tax measure would raise around $40 billion in revenue.
The Biden administration is pushing to pour $80 billion into the IRS as part of its infrastructure plans. The White House views it as a key way to generate new revenue from wealthy Americans who pay little or nothing in federal taxes every year.
She said additional tax enforcement "would raise a great deal more, by multiples of what the gas tax would raise," while she also noted "it would fall on predominantly wealthy Americans and just ensure they're paying the taxes they owe."
A March study from IRS researchers and academics indicated that the top 1% of Americans fail to report about a quarter of their income to the IRS. Then underreporting incomes is twice as high for the top 0.1%, the research found.
Psaki, along with White House chief of staff Ron Klain, assailed GOP congressman Jim Jordan on Twitter for blaming Biden for the rise in gas prices over the past year — a period when overall demand was low and supply was abundant due to pandemic restrictions.
Psaki also said during the news conference the administration opposes a new charge for electric vehicle drivers — which most Republicans support — because it wants to spur growth in that industry. Electric cars only make up 2% of new cars and 1% of all cars on American roads, The New York Times reported.
"The president wants to grow the electric vehicle industry, wants more people to buy electric vehicles, wants to make them accessible to people across the country," she said. "That will help our climate [and] help create jobs in that industry as well."