Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-06) and 201 of his colleagues sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Yellen reasserting their concerns with the Administration’s proposal to expand the data collected on Americans’ bank accounts.
In response, Congressman Emmer issued the following statement,
“I am deeply disturbed by the continued efforts of the Biden Administration to expand IRS data collection on millions of Americans. When more than 100 Members of Congress voiced their objection to this proposal, Treasury’s lackluster response demonstrated just how out-of-touch the Department is with the very real concerns of the American people.”
“Over the last several months, Congressional offices have been inundated with messages from constituents concerned about the privacy implications associated with this proposal. The Administration’s half-hearted attempt to mollify critics by suggesting they will simply increase the reporting threshold is dismissive and will still affect millions of Americans who do not want more of their personal data sent to the IRS as a means to pay for reconciliation.”
Background:
On September 13th, Congressman Emmer led a letter with 142 of his colleagues expressing concern with the 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 Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Following that letter, the Department of Treasury responded on September 29th attempting to justify their actions as an effort to “close the tax gap”. However, they failed to address the privacy implications of their proposal. Recently, the Administration and the majorities in Congress have begun considering increasing the threshold from $600 to $10,000 (or an even higher amount). Arbitrarily increasing the threshold to $10,000, as most recently proposed, will still apply to individuals at every rung of the income ladder.
Read Congressman Emmer’s September 13th letter here.
Read Congressman Emmer's October 21st letter here.
Congressman Emmer has served on the House Financial Services Committee since 2015. He currently serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.