Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04) sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi, Ways and Means Chair Neal, Department of Treasury Secretary Yellen, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Rettig to express concern with a recent IRS data collection proposal that will increase tax information reporting requirements on financial institutions.

The proposal would require financial institutions and other financial services providers to report certain transaction-level data and information about the outflows and inflows on accounts over $600 to the IRS every year. The requirements of this proposal would impose significant compliance costs on our banks, credit unions, and related financial institutions but also infringe on the privacy of millions of Americans.

The Members write: “Not only are there serious privacy implications for the taxpayer and compliance burdens for our financial institutions, but there is also no reason to believe that handing more sensitive information over to the IRS will assist in any way in closing the ‘tax gap’ – the difference between taxes paid and taxes owed by law. We should only legislate when it makes sense, and it must protect Americans and our financial system, not focus on raising revenue at the expense of our taxpayers and financial institutions.” 

The Members concluded: “House Democrats and the Biden Administration have claimed that this dangerous proposal will help them close the ‘tax gap’. However, they use their careless attempts to further justify outlandish trillion-dollar spending proposals.”

The full letter can be found here. 

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