WASHINGTON—Unites States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and several of his GOP colleagues in introducing the “Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act,” a bill to prevent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from implementing Democrats’ plan to give the agency access to transaction information of virtually every American.
“Allowing the IRS to monitor and spy on the bank accounts of millions of Americans is just another example of egregious overreach by President Biden and the Democrats, especially when we have seen the Biden IRS earlier this year leak confidential taxpayer information to Pro Publica to further their political agenda at the expense of taxpayer’s privacy,” said Senator Hagerty. “Every day I hear from concerned and worried Tennesseans about how frightening and problematic this proposal is. Some community lenders have even said their customers are already starting to pull their deposits. I am pleased to join Senator Tim Scott and my colleagues in protecting Americans’ privacy and stop this government overreach by Democrats.”
“The Democrats’ plan to allow the IRS to spy on the bank accounts of nearly every person in this country, even those below the poverty line, should be deeply concerning to anyone who values privacy and economic inclusion,” said Senator Tim Scott. “Of the more than 7 million American households that are currently unbanked, the majority are low-income, rural, and minority Americans. Implementing the Biden reporting scheme will disproportionately harm those who need greater access to our financial institutions and people living paycheck to paycheck. My colleagues and I will not stop fighting the Democrats’ wrong-headed proposal to implement more federal government intrusion into our lives.”
Background
- President Biden, Treasury Secretary Yellen, and the IRS are seeking access to every working American’s financial information by requiring financial institutions to report to the IRS each and every withdrawal and deposit that total at least $10,000.
- The “Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act” would prohibit the Biden administration’s proposed violation of privacy and federal government overreach.
- Under the Biden reporting regime a family whose monthly expenses total just $833 would still be required to be reported to the IRS.
- Nearly every American, even those below the poverty line, would be subject to this proposed reporting regime.
- The Joint Committee on Taxation has analyzed the proposal and found that it is likely to impact taxpayers in every income bracket, including those making less than $50,000.
- Steven Rosenthal at the left-leaning Tax Policy Center concluded the bank reporting requirement proposal would, “in fact, bury the agency in a sea of unproductive information.”
Click here to read the bill.