U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) continues sounding the alarm over the Biden administration’s plan to expand the reporting of confidential financial data of Americans from financial institutions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Boozman and GOP senators urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to abandon the White House proposal that would alter banking account reporting requirements.
“This proposal represents a radical departure from existing reporting requirements associated with national security and actual taxable events,” the senators wrote in a letter.“Placing more requirements on financial institutions would not only adversely affect these institutions and their customers – who ultimately pay the price for compliance costs – but it would also inundate the IRS with layers of new paperwork and taxpayer data that is either redundant or irrelevant to improving federal tax compliance, as account inflows and outflows are not taxable events. Simply flooding the IRS with more data and burdening taxpayers, financial institutions, and already overwhelmed IRS service centers with more paperwork is of questionable value, especially when the IRS does not effectively use data already in its possession.”
The president’s plan would require all financial institutions to report to the IRS deposits and withdrawals of $600 or more from business and personal accounts maintained by federally regulated banking services. The current reporting requirement is for transactions of $10,000 or higher.
The letter was led by U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. In addition to Boozman, it was signed by Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Tim Scott (R-SC), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Todd Young (R-IN).
Last week, Boozman wrote a column warning of the additional threat to the security of personal information if this proposal is enacted.
Additionally, he joined legislation that would to block this overreach as a cosponsor of the Tax Gap Reform and Internal Revenue Service Enforcement Act a bicameral bill that safeguards taxpayers against IRS targeting and abuse.
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