Lawmakers Urge Yellen to Scrap Reporting Proposal

October 21,2021

Secretary Janet Yellen
The Treasury Department
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Secretary Yellen:

On September 13^th, 142 Members of Congress wrote to you expressing concern with the Administration's proposal to significantly expand the amount of financial data collected on virtually every American. Since then, hundreds of thousands of our constituents have reached out to our offices — in addition to every state bank and credit union association, and many state financial officers — voicing their opposition to this initiative. 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 with this idea.

The Treasury Department's initial plan sought 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). After receiving pushback from Americans in every state, there have been reports that the Administration and the majorities in Congress are considering increasing the threshold from $600 to $10,000 (or an even higher amount).

The impact that these new reporting requirements will have on tens if not hundreds of millions of unsuspecting Americans cannot be emphasized enough. Arbitrarily increasing the threshold to $10,000, as most recently proposed, will still apply to individuals at every rung of the income ladder.¹

Further, your September 29^th response cited enhanced transparency, improved tax compliance, and increased federal income as the main reasons for this proposal, while failing to substantively address one of our primary concerns: privacy protections. The IRS's history when it comes to protecting Americans' personal information is suspect at best.² Not to mention, one of the foremost reasons so many Americans are unbanked is due to privacy concerns, according to a 2019 survey published by the FDIC.³

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.

Lastly, after a historic year when banks and credit unions were front and center, providing financial lifelines to families, businesses, and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot emphasize strongly enough the negative impact that new and additional reporting requirements will have on these same financial institutions by your proposal. Financial institutions already report a tremendous amount of data to the IRS, and there is ample evidence to show that the IRS needs to do a better job using the information it already has to close the “tax gap.” The last thing our financial institutions need is another layer of administrative reporting requirements to take away from their daily efforts to provide the capital that is the lifeblood of Main Street America.

In light of our continuing concerns, and your inability to adequately address them, we ask you to abandon this proposal and encourage congressional Democrats to do the same. We must protect Americans and our financial system, not make them the victim of government overreach in the name of raising revenue.

Sincerely,

Tom Emmer
Member of Congress

Pete Sessions
Member of Congress

Steve Scalise
Member of Congress

Adrian Smith
Member of Congress

Ann Wagner
Member of Congress

Roger Williams
Member of Congress

Michael Guest
Member of Congress

Kevin McCarthy
Member of Congress

Elise Stefanik
Member of Congress

Patrick McHenry
Member of Congress

Bill Posey
Member of Congress

Brett Guthrie
Member of Congress

Ted Budd
Member of Congress

Brian Fitzpatrick
Member of Congress

Diana Harshbarger
Member of Congress

Dan Meuser
Member of Congress

Scott Fitzgerald
Member of Congress

Jeff Duncan
Member of Congress

William Timmons
Member of Congress

John R. Carter
Member of Congress

David Schweikert
Member of Congress

Mario Diaz-Balart
Member of Congress

Andy Barr
Member of Congress

Vern Buchanan
Member of Congress

Carlos A. Giménez
Member of Congress

Blake D. Moore
Member of Congress

Ashley Hinson
Member of Congress

Alex Mooney
Member of Congress

Yvette Herrell
Member of Congress

Robert J. Wittman
Member of Congress

David Rouzer
Member of Congress

Eric A. “Rick” Crawford
Member of Congress

Doug Lamborn
Member of Congress

Maria Elvira Salazar
Member of Congress

Michelle Steel
Member of Congress

Bob Good
Member of Congress

Gus M. Bilirakis
Member of Congress

Chip Roy
Member of Congress

David B. McKinley, P.E.
Member of Congress

Warren Davidson
Member of Congress

Neal P. Dunn, M.D.
Member of Congress

Bill Johnson
Member of Congress

Daniel Webster
Member of Congress

Tom Tiffany
Member of Congress

Tom McClintock
Member of Congress

Van Taylor
Member of Congress

Donald J. Bacon
Member of Congress

Pat Fallon
Member of Congress

Michael McCaul
Member of Congress

Matthew Rosendale, Sr.
Member of Congress

Andrew R. Garbarino
Member of Congress

Russ Fulcher
Member of Congress

Liz Cheney
Member of Congress

John Curtis
Member of Congress

Nancy Mace
Member of Congress

Claudia Tenney
Member of Congress

Burgess Owens
Member of Congress

John Moolenaar
Member of Congress

Billy Long
Member of Congress

Madison Cawthorn
Member of Congress

Stephanie Bice
Member of Congress

Mike Rogers
Member of Congress

Blaine Luetkemeyer
Member of Congress

Lauren Boebert
Member of Congress

Anthony Gonzalez
Member of Congress

Kelly Armstrong
Member of Congress

Steven M. Palazzo
Member of Congress

French Hill
Member of Congress

Fred Upton
Member of Congress

Guy Reschenthaler
Member of Congress

Joe Wilson
Member of Congress

Mike Simpson
Member of Congress

Beth Van Duyne
Member of Congress

Glenn “GT” Thompson
Member of Congress

James Comer
Member of Congress

Mark Amodei
Member of Congress

Jaime Herrera Beutler
Member of Congress

Nicole Malliotakis
Member of Congress

Bruce Westerman
Member of Congress

Bryan Steil
Member of Congress

Ben Cline
Membep of Congress

Pete Stauber
Member of Congress

Tracey Mann
Member of Congress

Dusty Johnson
Member of Congress

Barry Loudermilk
Member of Congress

Tim Burchett
Member of Congress

Ron Estes
Member of Congress

Earl L. “Buddy” Carter
Member of Congress

Mike Bost
Member of Congress

Mo Brooks
Member of Congress

Jody Hice
Member of Congress

Jeff Fortenberry
Member of Congress

Michael Cloud
Member of Congress

Scott DesJarlais, M.D.
Member of Congress

Troy Balderson
Member of Congress

Bill Huizenga
Member of Congress

Devin Nunes
Member of Congress

Bob Gibbs
Member of Congress

Chris Stewart
Member of Congress

Lee Zeldin
Member of Congress

Kat Cammack
Member of Congress

Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Member of Congress

Chuck Fleischmann
Member of Congress

Carol D. Miller
Member of Congress

Scott Perry
Member of Congress

Rodney Davis
Member of Congress

Ralph Norman
Member of Congress

David G. Valadao
Member of Congress

Austin Scott
Member of Congress

Byron Donalds
Member of Congress

Richard Hudson
Member of Congress

August Pfluger
Member of Congress

Jeff Van Drew
Member of Congress

Debbie Lesko
Member of Congress

Gregory F. Murphy, M.D.
Member of Congress

Markwayne Mullin
Member of Congress

Michael C. Burgess, M.D.
Member of Congress

Lance Gooden
Member of Congress

Robert Aderholt
Member of Congress

Randy Weber
Member of Congress

Jack Bergman
Member of Congress

Marie E. Green, M.D.
Member of Congress

Peter Meijer
Member of Congress

Steve Chabot
Member of Congress

Jim Jordan
Member of Congress

Dan Bishop
Member of Congress

Doug LaMalfa
Member of Congress

Jodey C. Arrington
Member of Congress

Darrell Issa
Member of Congress

Lisa McClain
Member of Congress

Rick Allen
Member of Congress

Jackie Walorski
Member of Congress

Don Young
Member of Congress

Dan Newhouse
Member of Congress

Louie Gohmert
Member of Congress

David P. Joyce
Member of Congress

Jay Obernolte
wnioer of Congress

Trey Hollingsworth
Member of Congress

Mike Turner
Member of Congress

Scott Franklin
Member of Congress

Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon
Member of Congress

Young Kim
Member of Congress

Adam Kinzinger
Member of Congress

Steve Womack
Member of Congress

Tom Rice
Member of Congress

Christopher H. Smith
Member of Congress

Ronny L. Jackson
Member of Congress

Jim Banks
Member of Congress

James R. Baird
Member of Congress

Larry Bucshon, M.D.
Member of Congress

John Rose
Member of Congress

Dan Crenshaw
Member of Congress

Lloyd Smucker
Member of Congress

Barry Moore
Member of Congress

Brian Mast
Member of Congress

Julia Letlow
Member of Congress

Brian Babin
Member of Congress

Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D.
Member of Congress

Drew Ferguson
Member of Congress

Garret Graves
Member of Congress

David Kustoff
Member of Congress

Jerry Carl
Member of Congress

Darin LaHood
Member of Congress

Jim Hagedorn
Member of Congress

Tom Reed
Member of Congress

Frank Lucas
Member of Congress

Michelle Fischbach
Member of Congress

Ronert E. Latta
Member of Congress

Fred Keller
Member of Congress

Mike Garcia
Member of Congress

Andrew S. Clyde
Member of Congress

Chris Jacobs
Member of Congress

Ken Calvert
Member of Congress

Tony Gonzales
Member of Congress

Glenn Grothman
Member of Congress

Ken Buck
Member of Congress

Greg Pence
Member of Congress

Randy Feenstra
Mernper of Congress

Tom Cole
Member of Congress

Cliff Bentz
Member of Congress

Hal Rogers
Member of Congress

John H. Rutherford
Member of Congress

Victoria Spartz
Member of Congress

Gary Palmer
Member of Congress

Kevin Hern
Member of Congress

Tim Walberg
Member of Congress

Mary Miller
Member of Congress

Clay Higgins
Member of Congress

Troy E. Nehls
Member of Congress

Jason Smith
member of Congress

Vicky Hartzler
Member of Congress

Matt Gaetz
Member of Congress

W. Gergory Steube
Member of Congress

Mike Johnson
Member of Congress

John Katko
Member of Congress

Brad R. Wenstrup, D.P.M
Member of Congress

Jake LaTurner
Member of Congress

Sam Graves
Member of Congress

Virginia Foxx
Member of Congress

H. Morgan Griffith
Member of Congress

Mike Gallagher
Member of Congress

Andy Biggs
Member of Congress