President Joe Biden’s administration recently unveiled a proposal that would allow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to gain access to virtually every working American’s financial information by requiring financial institutions to report account data to the IRS for anyone whose transactions total at least $10,000 over the course of one year. In response, this week U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and 46 of his colleagues cosponsored Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) “Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act,” a bill to prevent the IRS from implementing the Democrat-endorsed plan to give the agency access to transaction information of virtually every American.
“Joe Biden and the Democrats want to snoop on the finances of everyday Americans,” said Senator Hawley. “They want to give the same IRS that has a history of targeting conservatives new surveillance powers to oversee the bank accounts of working families and farmers across the country. This is liberal power-grab with no possible justification.”
Under Biden’s IRS reporting regime, a family whose monthly expenses total just $833 would still be required to be reported to the IRS. That means 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.
“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.”
Bill text can be found here. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) also cosponsored this legislation.