Mountain America Opposes Proposed IRS Reporting Requirements
Federal legislative proposal would require all financial institutions to report to the IRS all account inflows and outflows over $600; Privacy violation would increase personal data vulnerability.
Mountain America vigorously opposes granting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) unprecedented access to consumers’ personal financial data. A proposal under consideration would require financial institutions to report incoming and outgoing flows of greater than $600 in all accounts. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the IRS have proposed and continue to push for this alarming requirement in the reconciliation bill in hopes of looking for unreported taxable income.
“Bottom line, this is a breach of trust with our valued members,” says Sterling Nielsen, president and chief executive officer at Mountain America Credit Union. “This proposal would violate the privacy of countless Americans and make even more of their personal information vulnerable to data breaches. We have yet to understand why the IRS would need access to such an abundance of data, or how they plan to keep this information secure.”
The main concerns are as follows:
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This proposal is a violation of personal privacy, forcing financial institutions to report more information to the government than just taxable activity.
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The government data systems that store IRS information put consumers’ financial information at high risk of a data breach. These systems are old, outdated and have already been compromised in the past.
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This would be an expensive regulatory burden on all financial institutions to overhaul current reporting systems, including those serving rural and low-income communities that are already underserved.
The proposal has not yet been included in the current draft of the reconciliation bill, however that could change as the bill moves through the legislative process.
Please visit the CUNA Grassroots Action Center for information on how to contact your Federal Representatives and Senators.
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