WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) issued the following statement on the administration’s proposal to require financial institutions to report inflows and outflows of business and personal accounts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
According to a release from the congressman’s office, financial institutions would be forced to disclose to the IRS any accounts with transactions that amount to more than $600 annually.
In 2015, the IRS suffered a detrimental cyberattack, where hackers accessed personal information of over 700,000 taxpayer accounts. If implemented, this proposal would expose more Americans to cyberattacks, and as a result, they will feel unsafe about opening bank accounts.
“This useless proposal by the administration is an invasion of Americans’ privacy rights and allows the government to have expanded access to individuals’ sensitive bank information,” stated Van Drew. “It will do absolutely nothing to close the tax gap and is clear government overreach.
“The government works for the people, rather than the people working for the government. There is no reason why citizens’ personal transactions over $600 should be reported to the IRS. The average rent in the U.S. surpasses that amount. The vast majority of Americans are law-abiding taxpayers, and we, as members of Congress, should be treating them as such.
“The administration should be focused on policies that better the lives of our people, rather than attempt to track their personal spending.”
