Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) officials said the organization remains in opposition to congressional efforts allowing the IRS to collect consumer financial account information.
“Adjusting the reporting threshold or making other tweaks to Washington’s widely opposed proposal to require financial institutions to report customer account information to the IRS will not salvage this misguided plan,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey noted via a statement. “An ICBA poll conducted by Morning Consult found 67 percent of voters oppose the proposal, with 64 percent saying they do not trust the IRS to monitor their financial information. Further, consumers have sent more than 400,000 messages to their members Congress in opposition via banklocally.org/privacy.”
Per the ICBA, a majority of Americans oppose the IRS monitoring their bank account information and maintains the IRS reporting proposal is an invasion of consumers’ privacy, violates due process, and serves as a data security risk in the wake of the IRS’s ongoing tax return leak investigation.
Additionally, the organization noted the proposal is a threat to efforts to reduce the unbanked population by forcing more consumers out of the banking system and to predatory lenders.
“ICBA, community bankers and voters across the country will continue opposing this proposal regardless of adjustments to the reporting threshold,” Romero Rainey said.