The Biden administration is pressuring lawmakers to enact a controverisal plan requiring banks to turn over to the Internal Revenue Service detailed information about inflows and outflows of almost all American bank accounts.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig sent letters to lawmakers this week asking Congress to include in tax hike legislation a requirement that banks report annual transaction data on accounts with $600 or more or that have $600 worth of transaction over the year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The result would be the collection of detailed data about the bank transactions of tens of millions of everyday Americans.
The aim is to help the I.R.S. collect taxes from individuals and businesses on unreported income and to create more leads for audits.
The Biden administration claims the additional information would result in the IRS collecing an additional $460 billion over a decade. The administration wants to use this additional revenue to offset some of the new spending for expanded government social policies and green new deal schemes Congress is currently considering.