The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced its position against the Biden administration’s attempt to oversee the financial transactions of Americans and place new burdens on private banking institutions.
“This proposal would increase costs for everyone at a time when we are working to rebuild our economy,” said Daniel P. Mehan, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Under the federal government’s proposal, the size of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would expand and financial institutions would be required to report the inflows and outflows of money in customers’ bank accounts over $10,000.
“Our state’s banking industry has already been outspoken against this effort,” Mehan said. “Now Missouri’s broader business community is uniting behind the Missouri Chamber and State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick to put a stop this reckless, intrusive federal policy.”
Biden had initially proposed a $600 threshold, according to media reports.
“We are sending a strong message to the Biden Administration that this is the wrong way to do business,” Mehan added.
While Ohio Congressman Dave Joyce co-sponsored H.R. 5586 to prevent the Biden Administration from collecting the data, Ways and Means Republican Oversight Subcommittee Leader Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) hosted a virtual roundtable this week called The Devastating Consequences of Biden’s IRS Surveillance of Americans’ Bank Accounts.
“Democrats insist on hiring 80,000 more IRS agents to unleash on American taxpayers,” said Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chair of the House Ways & Means Committee, at the remote hearing. “This is a dangerous invasion of your privacy. As little as $200 a week of spending could trigger IRS surveillance. The grocery bill for an average family of four well exceeds that trigger. I think it's especially frightening for hairdressers plumbers, gig workers, anyone who earns your living outside of payroll systems. They've got a big target on their back.”
Three bank presidents testified against the initiative including Bob Fisher, president & CEO of Tioga State Bank.
“There are many reasons to object to IRS reporting,” Fisher said. “It would deprive Americans of their fundamental privacy and due process rights, jeopardize trust in financial institutions, and drive more Americans out of the banking system. The problems with the proposal are too fundamental to be fixed by a higher threshold, or by attempting to exempt certain cash flows. A threshold of $10,000 would capture every worker with minimum wage level deposits over the course of a year, and the terms to exempt payroll and other deposits are essentially unworkable because it's impossible to identify certain payments reliably or consistently.”