If you read and believe all you see on social media, you might be worried that the IRS is about to hire thousands of agents who will be auditing you at gunpoint.

That’s not what’s happening. But the narrative has exploded in social media posts, videos and political commentary.

"The IRS is about to double in size, with 87,000 new armed agents and an additional $80 billion in order to primarily enhance IRS enforcement and operations," read the caption on one such Facebook video.

The Aug. 16 post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The video went on to claim that the IRS is stockpiling ammunition. That’s False. And it said that the agency will now have more employees than the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI and Border Patrol combined. That’s misleading and ignores a lot of details.

The Inflation Reduction Act signed into law this week by President Joe Biden does include $80 billion in new funding for the IRS.

But the claim in this caption and others like it mischaracterize how large the agency will become as a result — and it suggests that any new hires made will be for armed agents. That’s wrong.

Here’s what we know about what the new IRS funding means for the agency and for taxpayers.

The $80 billion in new funding would come over 10 years and is primarily to enhance enforcement and operations at the agency.

About $46 billion is targeted specifically for...

Read Full Story: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/aug/18/facebook-posts/video-mislea...