OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Letter to Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, Hon. Janet Yellen, Secretary of Treasury, Hon. Richard Neal, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Hon. Charles Rettig, and Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service - Womack, Lawmakers Express Concerns with Biden Administration's IRS Proposal

Letter

By: Jerry Carl, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, Doug LaMalfa, Young Kim, Doug Lamborn, Gus Bilirakis, Byron Donalds, Drew Ferguson, Jody Hice, Ashley Hinson, Mike Bost, Adam Kinzinger, Jim Banks, Tracey Mann, Brett Guthrie, Andy Harris, Barry Moore, French Hill, David Schweikert, David Valadao, Ken Calvert, Kat Cammack, Scott Franklin, Mario Diaz-Balart, Austin Scott, Barry Loudermilk, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Rodney Davis, Darin LaHood, Larry Bucshon, Ron Estes, Andy Barr, Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, Lisa McClain, Ann Wagner, Jason Smith, Greg Murphy, Ted Budd, Donald Bacon, Lee Zeldin, Elise Stefanik, John Katko, Bob Gibbs, Kevin Hern, Tom Cole, Scott Perry, Guy Reschenthaler, William Timmons, Dusty Johnson, Chuck Fleischmann, Mark Green, Van Taylor, Randy Weber, Sr., Chip Roy, Michael Burgess, Blake Moore, Ben Cline, Glenn Grothman, Carol Miller, Steve Womack, Mike Rogers, Bruce Westerman, Debbie Lesko, Devin Nunes, Ken Buck, Bill Posey, Vern Buchanan, Buddy Carter, Andrew Clyde, Rick Allen, Randy Feenstra, Mary Miller, Jackie Walorski, Trey Hollingsworth III, James Comer, Jr., Julia Letlow, Bill Huizenga, Fred Upton, Tom Emmer, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Michael Guest, Richard Hudson, Jr., Kelly Armstrong, Adrian Smith, Andrew Garbarino, Claudia Tenney, Brad Wenstrup, Warren Davidson, Markwayne Mullin, Brian Fitzpatrick, Lloyd Smucker, GT Thompson, Jr., Ralph Norman, Jr., Diana Harshbarger, Scott DesJarlais, David Kustoff, Lance Gooden, Pete Sessions, Beth Van Duyne, Michael Cloud, Burgess Owens, Cathy Rodgers, Mike Gallagher, Liz Cheney, Peter Meijer, Tim Walberg, Peter Stauber, Vicky Hartzler, Matt Rosendale, Dan Bishop, Jeff Fortenberry, Yvette Herrell, Nicole Malliotakis, Tom Reed II, Bob Latta, Troy Balderson, Frank Lucas, Dan Meuser, Fred Keller, Jeff Duncan, Tom Rice, Tim Burchett, John Rose, Louie Gohmert, August Pfluger, Jodey Arrington, Roger Williams, John Carter, Rob Wittman, Scott Fitzgerald, Alex Mooney, Mark Kelly
Date: Sept. 13, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Neal, Secretary Yellen, and Commissioner Rettig:

We are concerned about a recent IRS data collection proposal to increase tax information reporting requirements on financial institutions, which we do not believe are necessary or helpful toward closing the "tax gap."

The recent spending proposal to include new tax information reporting requirements for financial institutions would not only impose significant compliance costs on our banks, credit unions, and related financial institutions that have served as the backbone of this economy these past 18 months, but also infringe on the privacy of millions of Americans.

Specifically, such a proposal would require financial institutions and other financial services providers report information about the outflows and inflows on accounts over $600 to the IRS every year. However, financial institutions currently report a tremendous amount of data to the IRS, and no evidence has shown that the proposed requirements would substantially aid the IRS's efforts to close the tax gap beyond the information already at the IRS's disposal.

Not only would such an overly comprehensive IRS database require significant resources to build, maintain, and protect, but it would make the personal, financial data of millions of Americans vulnerable to attack. Considering the IRS experiences 1.4 billion cyberattacks annually and has experienced multiple data breaches, we should not give this agency additional sensitive data to manage.

Additionally, privacy is one of the primary reasons individuals choose not to open bank accounts. This overreaching proposal, if adopted, would further exacerbate banked/unbanked/underbanked divides.

We ask you to address our concerns as we work to craft a regulatory environment focused on protecting Americans and our financial system, not one focused on raising revenue at the expense of our taxpayers and financial institutions.

Sincerely,


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