This was a REALLY stupid idea…..
One that hands Republicans a bat to hit Democrats with…
Pointing to the fact that initial proposal would be an issue mostly for middle income Americans who pay MOST of tax revenue in America….
We’ll see if any of this actually makes the final cut….
Democrats on Tuesday narrowed the scope of a proposal to increase the amount of information the IRS receives about bank accounts, amid a massive lobbying effort against the proposal from banks and Republicans that threatens to jeopardize its prospects.
Democrats are seeking to blunt the attacks, stressing that the proposal is aimed at strengthening the IRS’s ability to enforce tax laws against wealthy tax cheats.
“Despite what opponents say, what President Biden and Democrats have proposed is focused on rooting out tax cheating at the top,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Tuesday on a call with reporters…
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The Biden administration initially proposed in the spring requiring financial institutions to report more information about bank accounts on annual IRS forms if the accounts had more than $600 in deposits or withdrawals in a year.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday said they are proposing to raise that threshold to $10,000. They also said that wage income or income from Social Security would not be counted toward that threshold.
In cases where an individual spends significant savings on a major purchase, there would be no additional reporting as long as the amount of money that came into the account doesn’t exceed the amount of wages plus $10,000, Wyden said….
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Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, said in a statement that if lawmakers’ goal is to go after wealthy people who aren’t paying their taxes, “Democrats should add a couple zeros to their threshold.”
Senate Republicans also argued that many Americans would still be affected by the proposal with a $10,000 threshold.
“If they raise it to $10,000, it will still capture everybody and every small business,” Toomey said.
Republicans said they have been hearing from many of their constituents about the proposal. They also expressed skepticism that the IRS would focus enforcement efforts related to the proposal on taxpayers making over $400,000, as the administration has indicated.
“Why don’t they just put a ban in there that bans the IRS from snooping in the accounts of people who make less than $400,000?” said Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee…..