Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04) and over 200 colleagues sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Yellen reasserting concerns with the Administration’s proposal to expand the data collected on Americans’ bank accounts.

“The push to expand IRS data collection shows just how out-of-touch the White House and Congressional Democrats are with everyday Americans,” said Rep. Owens. “Utahns in the Fourth District are appalled by this textbook government overreach, and I’m proud to take their concerns straight to Treasury Secretary Yellen.”

In the letter, the members write: “The Treasury Department’s initial plan sought to require financial institutions and other financial services providers to report a range of new data points on accounts with annual gross inflows and outflows totaling more than $600 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). After receiving pushback from Americans in every state, there have been reports that the Administration and the majorities in Congress are considering increasing the threshold from $600 to $10,000 (or an even higher amount). Arbitrarily increasing the threshold to $10,000, as most recently proposed, will still apply to individuals at every rung of the income ladder.”

The members conclude: “After a historic year when banks and credit unions were front and center, providing financial lifelines to families, businesses, and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot emphasize strongly enough the negative impact that new and additional reporting requirements will have on these same financial institutions by your proposal. The last thing our financial institutions need is another layer of administrative reporting requirements to take away from their daily efforts to provide the capital that is the lifeblood of Main Street America.”

The full letter to Secretary Yellen is available here.

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