Today, Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) joined Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-06) and his colleagues in sending a letter renewing their demands for the Biden administration to abandon a plan that would drastically expand the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“I’ve heard from many Iowans who are rightfully concerned this proposal will allow the IRS to intrude on their private financial information,” said Rep. Feenstra. “Further, the Biden administration’s latest proposal would unfairly target those who don’t rely on a payroll system, including farmers, and it would drastically increase the regulatory and financial burden on banks in our rural communities. That’s why I will continue fighting against the Biden administration’s attempt to weaponize the IRS.”
Last month, Feenstra joined a similar letter expressing concerns that the Biden administration’s plan to require financial institutions and other financial services providers to report a range of new data points on accounts with annual gross inflows and outflows totaling more than $600 to the IRS. Following that letter, the Treasury Department sent a lackluster response attempting to justify their actions as an effort to “close the tax gap,” failing to address the privacy implications of their proposal.
“Your Department’s response to these concerns was not only insincere, but it also demonstrated just how out-of-touch the proponents of this effort are with the grave and sincere concerns that millions of Americans have,” the members responded in today’s letter.
Recently, the administration and congressional Democrats have considered increasing the threshold from $600 to $10,000. In today’s letter, Feenstra and his colleagues argue arbitrarily increasing the threshold to $10,000 will still apply to individuals at every rung of the income ladder.
“Your proposal, if enacted and regardless of the compliance threshold, will likely sow further distrust in our financial system due to the ongoing and valid concerns about the IRS’s ability to protect the privacy and financial data of the American people and potentially enlarge the unbanked population,” the members wrote.
Original source can be found here
