Millions Outraged Over Biden’s New IRS Plan

(RightWing.org) – The Biden administration isn’t winning many friends, but its latest misstep could be the worst yet. A controversial new IRS/bank disclosure proposal has sparked rapidly growing pushback to Biden’s plans.

In what appears to be a desperate bid to cover the cost of his massive spending plans, President Biden has authorized a Treasury Department proposal that would massively expand government surveillance of Americans’ bank accounts. Right now, banks must report any transaction over $10,000 under money-laundering laws. Biden wants to slash that threshold all the way down to $600.

The Biden Administration recently proposed a rule that would require credit unions & banks to report to the IRS transactions of $600 or more. I stand with my AL colleagues in opposing this pure government overreach. https://t.co/sUOdZpzRLP

— Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) September 17, 2021

The administration says the proposal would help them cut tax evasion by the super-rich – but the super-rich aren’t making a lot of $600 transfers to their offshore accounts, so the change wouldn’t affect them. Who it will affect is ordinary Americans. A lot of people are going to find the federal government taking an interest in their mortgages, rent or even car loans.

It’s bad enough the government wants to collect this huge mass of financial information on US citizens, but there are even more issues with what they’ll do with it. Such a low reporting threshold would generate a vast amount of information, and there are questions about the government’s ability to use it effectively – or even store it securely.

Now, a coalition of banks has written to the White House protesting the move. They explain the proposal would increase their costs and burden them with a mass of paperwork. Alex Sanchez of the Florida Bankers Association says it will kill community banks, which are too small to afford the extra costs – but provide 50% of small business loans in the US.

The White House claims it just wants “a little bit of high-level information” – but that’s not what the proposal would do. This data grab is a massive invasion of privacy.