Rep. Correa, other Democratic lawmakers express concerns about tax reporting proposal

A group of 20 Democratic members of the House of Representatives has expressed their concerns to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Chairman of Ways and Means Richard Neal (D-MA) on the new tax information reporting proposal from the Department of Treasury.

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The Congress members would like to see an alternative, as they claim the Treasury proposal calls for “excessive data” in financial accounts being submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) annually.

“I agree that all taxpayers must meet their obligations, yet there are multiple factors we must take into consideration with proposals that will affect our constituents’ privacy and taxes. This proposal will burden working-class Americans and small businesses with a $10,000 annual deposit to become targeted. With the little information we have available on the measures the IRS plans to take to protect my constituents and Americans across the country, I am respectfully requesting this proposal not be included in the Build Back Better package and that Congress come together to find an alternative proposal,” U.S. Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) said.

Correa and 19 of his Democratic colleagues wrote a letter to Pelosi and Neal, outlining their issues with the proposal.

“While the intent of this proposal is to ensure all taxpayers meet their obligations — a goal we strongly share — the data that would be turned over to the IRS is overly broad and raises significant privacy concerns. We have little information about how the IRS plans to protect or use this massive trove of data. Americans expect their bank or credit union to safeguard their financial information. This proposal would erode trust in financial services providers.”

They requested that the proposal be excluded from the Build Back Better package.