HARRISBURG – The Senate passed a resolution calling on Congress to oppose effort by the Biden Administration to review any private financial accounts and transactions, according to Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-49) supported the measure.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury released a comprehensive list of revenue proposals for the federal government to consider for the 2022 fiscal year. Included in the proposal that the Biden Administration supported is a plan that “would create a comprehensive financial account information reporting regime,” according to the Treasury.
The original measure would allow the federal government to monitor all financial account withdraws and deposits exceeding $600. The Biden Administration has since increased the threshold to $10,000. However, the average American has inflows and outflows exceeding $60,000 annually. This includes fund transfers into savings accounts, rent or mortgage payments, utilities, and other household bills.
The Biden Administration’s proposal also states, “The Secretary would be given broad authority to issue regulations necessary to implement this proposal.”
“Unlike measures taken to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, this proposal is misguided and would not target those who are cheating the system but would instead capture information on nearly every Pennsylvania taxpayer – individual taxpayers and businesses alike,” said Sen. Laughlin. “This could present a host of unintended consequences and adverse impacts for all parties involved, including customer privacy and data security risks, compliance costs for individuals and small businesses, and has the potential to damage customer relationships for financial institutions of all sizes across the state.”
As Senate Resolution 195 received support, the Senate will send letters indicating its disapproval of the Biden Administration’s tax snooping plan to every member of the Commonwealth’s U.S. Congressional delegation, as well as to President Biden and various members in U.S. Senate and House leadership.
Contact: Matt Azeles mazeles@pasen.gov