United States Senator Mike Crapo - Idaho

*A Message from Mike:
Outraged at IRS Reporting Scheme*

There is a proposal under
consideration by the Administration and congressional allies, as part
of their reckless tax-and-spending plan, to create a reporting scheme
where financial intermediaries report to the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) on customer "inflows and outflows."
Under this dragnet, local
banks, credit unions and payment providers will essentially be turned
into agents of the IRS, monitoring and reporting on inflows and
outflows of deposits and withdrawals made in private accounts.

This
proposal would create serious financial privacy concerns, increase tax
preparation costs for individuals and small businesses, and create
significant operational challenges for financial institutions,
affecting virtually all taxpayers and Idahoans from all walks of
life.

*Americans are rightly concerned. *

Americans are rightly
concerned about this scheme, with recent polling [link 1] showing that
67 percent of voters oppose the IRS reporting proposal.

[image =
[link removed]]

Earlier
this month, I joined Idaho leaders, concerned constituents, and
business and financial leaders for a roundtable discussion [link 2] on
this proposal.
Privacy concerns were paramount among all
participants.
Small business owners added that it is already difficult
to comply with existing tax laws; community banks and credit unions
highlighted concerns from data security at the IRS to increased
complexity and compliance costs.

[image =
[link removed]]
[link 3]

In Washington, D.C., I led a press conference [link 4] with
members of the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Banking Committee
to highlight this flawed proposal, and to share our constituents'
concerns.
In response to growing backlash, the Administration issued a
"fact sheet" on an as yet unrevealed new version of their proposal,
with two updates: increasing the reporting threshold to $10,000 from
$600, and including carve-outs for wage and salary earners and federal
program beneficiaries.
*These updates do nothing to address privacy
invasion, due process and/or data security concerns.
They just make
things even more complex.*

[image =
[link removed]]

**October
19: ***Press Conference with members of the Finance and Banking
Committees to oppose the Democrats' financial reporting
proposal.*

*Most, if not all, Americans would be swept in.
*

Tracking annual inflows and outflows of $10,000 or more would still
sweep in most Americans.
According to the most recent data [link 5]
available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average taxpayer in
America spends about $63,000 a year.
What do they spend it on?
The
averages: housing, $20,679; transportation, $10,742; personal
insurance and pensions, $7,165; health care, $5,193; groceries,
$4,643; other meals, $3,526; entertainment, $3,090; cash
contributions, $1,995; apparel and services, $1,883; education,
$1,443; personal care, $786.
For a grand total of the average American
running $63,036 through their accounts in a year.
So does raising the
reporting threshold to $10,000 really stop the IRS from accessing very
many accounts?
No.

Each proposed exemption creates more confusion and
complexity for taxpayers, as well as complexity and costs to private
reporting institutions.
What about non-wage workers, self-employed
hair stylists, convenience store owners and farmers?
Not every
non-wage worker is a "millionaire" or "billionaire."

*Fundamentally
flawed proposal should be shelved for good. *

The IRS has already
proven [link 6] it cannot keep the private data it already has
safe.
It has also shown it will not avoid using the data it has for
political purposes or weaponizing the data it collects to punish or
try to diminish the influence of people with different political
points of view or even religious beliefs.
We cannot trust it to take
better care of the expanded private data it now wants to collect.

We
cannot allow this to become law.
I introduced [link 7] the Tax Gap
Reform and IRS Enforcement Act to place important guardrails around
IRS funding to protect taxpayer rights and privacy.
I joined
Republican colleagues in introducing [link 8] legislation to stop
proposals like this in their tracks entirely.
As Ranking Member of the
Senate Finance Committee, I have spoken [link 9] about concerns with
the financial dragnet on the Senate Floor to raise awareness about the
need to stop the proposal.
I am also seeking [link 10] details of
Democrats' reporting proposal so the public can see what exactly they
are working on behind closed doors to move through Congress.

Making
sure tax cheats pay the taxes they owe is important, but law-abiding
Americans' privacy must not be trampled to accomplish that goal.
The
IRS does not need to have access to the accounts of every American.
It
cannot be trusted with this private information, and I will continue
to fight enabling this broadened authority.
This lazy and destructive
proposal must be shelved for good.

*Read more about the issue: *

-
Daily Signal: IRS Is Overstepping Its Boundaries with Lazy and
Destructive Proposal [link 11]

-
ABC News: Biden admin backs down on
tracking bank accounts with over $600 annual transactions [link 12]

-
Market Watch: Biden revises proposal to have IRS monitor bank accounts
more closely. Here's how it would work [link 13]

-
Washington
Examiner: 'Not good enough': Democrats scale back $600 IRS disclosure
after backlash [link 14]

-
Wall Street Journal: The $10,000 IRS Tax
Dragnet [link 15]

*Learn more about Senator Crapo's efforts: *

-
Sent a letter [link 16] to U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen asking for
details of the proposal.

-
Led an October 12 roundtable [link 17]
discussion with concerned Idahoans to discuss the reporting scheme.

-
Delivered remarks [link 18] on the Floor of the U.S. Senate calling on
Americans to loudly reject the intrusive IRS reporting regime.

-
Led
a press conference [link 19] with other Republican members of the
Senate Banking and Senate Finance Committees to blast the IRS bank
reporting dragnet.

-
Introduced [link 20] legislation with Senator
Tim Scott to block Democrats' IRS financial reporting proposal.

-
Introduced [link 21] the Tax Gap Reform and IRS Enforcement Act to add
significant guardrails around IRS funding to protect taxpayer rights
and privacy.


----------------------
footnotes
----------------------
[link 1]
[link removed]
[link
2]
[link removed]
[link
3]
[link removed]
[link
4]
[link removed]
[link
5]
[link removed]
[link
6]
[link removed]
[link
7]
[link removed]
[link
8]
[link removed]
[link
9]
[link removed]
[link
10]
[link removed]
[link
11]
[link removed]
[link
12]
[link removed]
[link
13]
[link removed]
[link
14]
[link removed]
[link
15]
[link removed]
[link
16]
[link removed]
[link
17]
[link removed]
[link
18]
[link removed]
[link
19]
[link removed]
[link
20]
[link removed]
[link
21]
[link removed]

Contact
Information:

Website:

Offices:
239 Dirksen Senate
Building
Washington D.C., 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6142

Idaho Falls
410 Memorial Drive
Suite 205
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
Phone: (208)
522-9779

Boise
251 East Front Street
Suite 205
Boise, ID 83702
Phone: (208) 334-1776

Lewiston
313 'D' Street
Suite 105
Lewiston,
ID 83501
Phone: (208) 743-1492

Caldwell
524 East Cleveland
Blvd.
Suite 220
Caldwell, ID 83605
Phone: (208) 455-0360

Pocatello
275 South 5th Avenue
Suite 100
Pocatello, ID 83201
Phone: (208)
236-6775

Coeur d' Alene
610 Hubbard Street
Suite 209
Coeur d'
Alene, ID 83814
Phone: (208) 664-5490

Twin Falls
202 Falls
Avenue
Suite 2
Twin Falls, ID 83301
Phone: (208) 734-2515
Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

Privacy
Policy:
[link removed]