A group of Democrats have turned against President Joe Biden’s proposal to help fund trillions in federal spending by forcing banks to hand over bank account information of millions of Americans to the IRS.
This week, 21 Democratic House members wrote a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) opposing the plan. Recent polling shows the majority of Americans oppose the plan.
Perhaps reflecting the public’s opposition to the plan, the Biden administration’s latest framework for its Build Back Better agenda does not include the plan.
“While the intent of this proposal is to ensure all taxpayers meet their obligations—a goal we strongly share—the data that would be turned over to the IRS is overly broad and raises
significant privacy concerns. We have little information about how the IRS plans to protect or use this massive trove of data. Americans expect their bank or credit union to safeguard their financial information,” the Democrats’ letter reads.
“This proposal would erode trust in financial services providers. Over the past few weeks, hundreds of thousands of constituents have reached out to our offices voicing concerns and opposition to allowing the IRS to collect this data. We have also heard from a wide range of constituent companies and small businesses about the significant burden and potential unintended consequences that could result from the new reporting regime.”
Banks around the country have raised the alarm about the proposal. The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) launched a campaign with “a serious warning concerning the impact on consumers.”
“This proposal has received scrutiny and criticism from both sides of the aisle, affirming the negative impact it would have on the financial lives of many working-class people,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “We will continue to rally credit union advocates to push back against what we also believe is a serious invasion of privacy.”
