Rounds, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Block Democrats’ IRS Snooping Proposal
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), member of the Senate Banking Committee, Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and colleagues introduced the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act to prevent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from implementing Democrats’ plan to give the agency access to transaction information of virtually every American.
“I have heard from more than 5,000 South Dakotans who are opposed to the proposed IRS expansion and intrusive authority to monitor everyday Americans’ bank accounts,” said Rounds. “I strongly oppose this attempt to invade the financial privacy rights of millions of Americans. Our bill prohibits the IRS from moving forward with this unprecedented access to taxpayer bank accounts. We must protect taxpayers from this power grab by the Biden administration.”
In addition to Rounds, Scott’s bill is cosponsored by the ranking members of the Senate finance and banking committees, Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), as well as Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).
Background
- President Biden, Treasury Secretary Yellen, and the IRS are seeking access to every working American’s financial information by requiring financial institutions to report annualized deposit and withdrawal amounts.
- 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.”
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