WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) joined Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to introduce legislation to prevent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from implementing Democrats’ plan to give the agency access to transaction information of virtually every American.

“It’s madness that Democrats’ proposal granting the IRS the power to spy on everyday Idahoans’ lawful, private banking transactions is even up for discussion. What you lawfully spend your money on is your business. Keep the IRS out of it,” said Risch.

“Every American should be wary of giving the IRS more power and more tentacles into private financial transactions,” said Crapo. “The IRS bank reporting proposal is one of the biggest expansions of the agency’s authority we’ve ever seen, and is fundamentally flawed.  I’m proud to support Senator Scott’s legislation to stop this proposal in its tracks and protect Americans’ personal, private financial information.”

“The Democrats’ plan to allow the IRS to spy on the bank accounts of nearly every person in this country, even those below the poverty line, should be deeply concerning to anyone who values privacy and economic inclusion,” said Scott. “Of the more than 7 million American households that are currently unbanked, the majority are low-income, rural, and minority Americans. Implementing the Biden reporting scheme will disproportionately harm those who need greater access to our financial institutions and people living paycheck to paycheck. My colleagues and I will not stop fighting the Democrats’ wrong-headed proposal to implement more federal government intrusion into our lives.” 

A full list of cosponsors can be found here. 

About the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act:

• President Biden, Treasury Secretary Yellen and the IRS are seeking access to every working American’s financial information by requiring financial institutions to report to the IRS each and every withdrawal and deposit that total at least $10,000. 
  
  
• The Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act would prohibit the Biden administration’s proposed violation of privacy and federal government overreach. 
  
  
• Under the Biden reporting regime, a family whose monthly expenses total just $833 would still be required to be reported to the IRS. 
  
  
• Nearly every American, even those below the poverty line, would be subject to this proposed reporting regime. 
  
  
• The Joint Committee on Taxation has analyzed the proposal and found that it is likely to impact taxpayers in every income bracket, including those making less than $50,000. 
  
  
• Steven Rosenthal at the left-leaning Tax Policy Center concluded the bank reporting requirement proposal would, “in fact, bury the agency in a sea of unproductive information.”

Full text of the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act can be found here.

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