US banking lobby groups oppose tax reporting bill

Sept. 17 (Reuters) – America’s biggest banking lobby groups banded together on Friday to make another attempt to kill a bank account reporting bill being drafted as part of Congress’ reconciliation agenda.

In a letter to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Parliamentary Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, lobby groups said the proposal would create “reputation challenges” for large service companies. financial institutions, increase the cost of tax preparation for Americans and small businesses, and create serious “financial privacy concerns.”

“We urge members to oppose any effort to advance this new misguided reporting regime,” the groups said in the letter.

“While the stated goal of this vast data collection is to uncover tax evasion by the wealthy, this proposal does not remotely target that goal or that population.”

The national accounts reporting requirement proposed in the House’s $ 3.5 trillion package is becoming a significant issue for the banking industry, which opposes the tax reporting changes proposed by Democrats.

The new proposal will require financial services companies to track and submit the inflows and outflows of each bank account above a minimum threshold of $ 600 for one year to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including breakdowns for species.

The proposal also raises significant privacy concerns, which lobbyists say would discourage taxpayers from participating in the financial services system and undermine efforts to include vulnerable populations and unbanked households.

Reporting by Michelle Price in Washington DC and Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva

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