U.S. Congressional members fight IRS proposal to monitor bank accounts with more than $10,000 of activity a year with new resolution.
Members of Congress have authored H.R. 5451, Protecting Financial Privacy Act, a bill aimed at prohibiting federal agencies from forcing institutions to report balances or transactions outside of the Bank Secrecy Act requirements. This resolution comes in direct response to President Biden’s current proposal to allow the IRS to retrieve details into personal bank accounts under certain requirements.
Congressman Steven Palazzo helped co-sponsor the legislation after outcries from several community members who shared serious concerns about weaponizing the IRS. These concerns also came from smaller credit unions and banks who are concerned with the increased burden of tax reporting requirements.
“Democrats and the Biden administration are chasing unprecedented power with a willingness to violate every right to privacy, freedom, and speech of yours and mine to achieve that goal. Utilizing the IRS to spy on the bank accounts of working-class Americans- families, farmers, and small businesses- is just the latest of their privacy invasions,” said Palazzo. “Americans value and deserve privacy, ESPECIALLY when it comes to their finances. I co-sponsored the Protecting Financial Privacy Act to prohibit agencies, like the IRS, from forcing data reports that not only overburden our small credit unions and banks but jeopardize the safety of Americans’ sensitive information,” said Congressman Palazzo.
The original proposal would have allowed for additional monitoring to begin with any transactions of $600 or more per year. This was changed recently by Biden to $10,000 of activity within a year. Officials say this still largely encompasses most of Mississippi’s residents.
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A companion bill has been introduced in the United States Senate and is awaiting votes in both Chambers. Read more about the legislation here.
Other Mississippi lawmakers have spoken out against the legislation and lawmakers in the state are considering ways to fight the proposal if it does pass through the U.S. Congress.
Sarah Ulmer
