Tweet
Biden administration plans to monitor bank transactions of $600 or more
Updated: Oct. 03, 2021, 11:31 a.m. | Published: Oct. 03, 2021, 11:31 a.m.
By Dennis Seid Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo (TNS) and Tribune Media Services
A proposed plan by the Biden administration to monitor financial account activity totaling $600 or more has drawn concern from the banking industry and others who see it as burdensome and an overreach by the government, among other criticisms.
The plan is included in the infrastructure bill now being negotiated in Washington.
The administration says the goal is to collect taxes from rich individuals and businesses on income that is earned but not reported, but opponents say that the requirements would cover the vast majority of bank, loan and investment accounts.
“The administration’s proposal to require financial institutions to track and submit the vast majority of their banking customer information to the IRS risks major data breaches, infringes on financial privacy and overburdens the banking system with massive data collection responsibilities, all for a purpose that is not obviously served by the proposal,” said Mitch Waycaster, president and CEO of Renasant.
The genesis of the proposal occurred in May, when a document from the Department of the Treasury outlined a number of the Biden administration’s revenue proposals for the 2022 fiscal year. Included in those proposals is finding a way to close what the IRS calls a tax gap of more than $160 billion — the amount of tax owned by businesses and actually paid by them. By reporting money flowing in and out of bank, loan and investment accounts totaling at least $600 in a year would help IRS enforcement measures, the proposal says.
BNA Bank CEO Bo Collins said the proposal to improve tax compliance is undermined by the relatively small threshold.
“Six hundred dollars is an awfully small sum to set as the benchmark and could cause unnecessary burden and expense on the banking industry, not to mention the invasion of privacy on citizens, depending on whether they are proposing individual transactions or total sums of transactions to be reported,” he said.
Added Waycaster, “This policy proposal also undermines community bankers’ efforts to reach the unbanked, who are often skeptical of working with federally regulated organizations.”...
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________
Do you sell quirky jewelry, taxidermied rodents or homemade stuffed animals online? Well, the IRS now wants its share.
Starting next year, online sellers who use platforms like eBay, Etsy or even Uber — and make more than $600 — will have to report their income to the tax agency.
...
Online marketplaces like eBay also have a part to play in these tax changes. For instance, a Social Security number is required to issue a 1099-K. This makes some online platforms worry the requirement would be a turnoff to sellers, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation told CNBC...
Comment