IRS: Agents Won't Be Enforcers of Obamacare Mandate.

"IRS revenue agents will not be involved. There will not be audits," IRS Deputy Commissioner Steven Miller told a subcommittee of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The law, passed in 2010 and upheld by theSupreme Court, will charge individuals a fee, or tax, if they fail to buy insurance starting in 2014.

The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday assured congressional lawmakers that agents would play no role in enforcing the controversial requirement that Americans buy insurance under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Opponents of the healthcare measure have focused on that requirement, with some Republicans saying they worry the IRS, the agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement, will harass people who fail to buy insurance.

"In most cases, taxpayers will file their tax returns reporting their health insurance coverage, and-or making a payment, and there will be no need for further interactions with the IRS," Miller said.

By 2016, that will rise to $695 per person, with a cap that equals the greater of $2,085 per family or 2.5 percent of household income.

About 1 percent of the population will be charged for not buying insurance, government watchdogs have estimated.

Republicans questioned Miller about how many new agents would be needed to apply the law, and whether the agency would be able to keep up its core mission of tax collection.

The law contains a number of new tax provisions, from the so-called individual mandate to tax credits for small businesses and levies on the wealthy to help pay for coverage.