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NAFCU urges President Biden to withdraw IRS reporting proposal
As part of an ongoing effort to call on the Administration to reject the proposed IRS reporting requirement, NAFCU on Monday joined a joint trades letter to President Biden calling for a withdrawal of the proposal and voicing opposition against the burdensome reporting regime.
In the letter, NAFCU, along with 98 other associations representing a cross-section of business and financial interests, wrote to Biden reiterating concerns against the reporting requirement and requesting that, “this proposal be withdrawn from further consideration, and the administration consider more targeted measures to reduce the tax gap.”
The group deemed the decision to raise the de minimis threshold to $10,000 and exclude wages and government benefits from the information reporting as only a cosmetic change that fails to address the reality of the program, which would negatively impact all taxpayers.
“The privacy concerns for Americans who pay their taxes and would be swept into this account reporting program are real and should not be taken lightly,” wrote the group.
The group also expressed major concerns about the program’s lack of proven results and efficacy. “At its core, this program that has not had a significant study or detailed examination to show consumer impact, will collect financial ‘metadata’ on nearly every American in the hope that the IRS will be able to discern patterns in aggregate numbers that do not correspond to tax liabilities and target audits only to those who are breaking the law,” declared the group. The group also expressed fears that this IRS authority to snoop into consumer bank accounts would only continue to grow over time.
NAFCU has been at the forefront of this issue, urging Congress to reject this provision since its first inclusion in the Administration's fiscal year 2022 Budget Resolution. The association continues to support efforts from lawmakers to block this requirement, including the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act.
Read the full letter to President Biden here. The association remains steadfast in its advocacy efforts to ensure this provision’s exclusion from the Build Back Better Act and encourages credit unions to get involved.
Stay tuned to NAFCU Today for the latest on the legislation as it moves through Congress and view the association’s advocacy page on this issue for more information.