Biden's 'American Families Plan' Sends the IRS To Snoop on Bank Transactions, Venmo Accounts
Everyone should pay the taxes they owe, of course, but it is virtually certain that a beefed-up IRS will create new headaches for banks, financial institutions, and anyone who uses them. Biden says he's targeting only the wealthiest Americans, but his own Treasury Department is already signaling that increased tax enforcement will require hoovering up more data from bank accounts and third-party payment providers like PayPal and Venmo.
Among other things, that means banks and third-party apps will be required to give the IRS data about account holders' "aggregate account outflows and inflows," the Treasury Department said in a statement on Wednesday.
"This reform aims to provide the IRS information on account flows so that it has a lens into investment and business activity," according to the Treasury's statement. "Providing the IRS this information will help improve audit selection so it can better target its enforcement activity."
Keeping an eye on the inflow and outflow of bank accounts won't automatically tell the IRS that someone is hiding unreported, taxable income, The Wall Street Journal notes. But it would be a "first step" in determining how much additional scrutiny might be necessary.
Think of it as giving another opportunity for the federal tax cops to establish probable cause for a financial stop and frisk. And that comes after Biden has already ordered the IRS to give greater scrutiny to transactions in the so-called sharing economy.
that extra scratch you have been making from Ebay or Facebook Market Place ...... get ready to pay taxes on that income
Everyone should pay the taxes they owe, of course, but it is virtually certain that a beefed-up IRS will create new headaches for banks, financial institutions, and anyone who uses them. Biden says he's targeting only the wealthiest Americans, but his own Treasury Department is already signaling that increased tax enforcement will require hoovering up more data from bank accounts and third-party payment providers like PayPal and Venmo.
Among other things, that means banks and third-party apps will be required to give the IRS data about account holders' "aggregate account outflows and inflows," the Treasury Department said in a statement on Wednesday.
"This reform aims to provide the IRS information on account flows so that it has a lens into investment and business activity," according to the Treasury's statement. "Providing the IRS this information will help improve audit selection so it can better target its enforcement activity."
Keeping an eye on the inflow and outflow of bank accounts won't automatically tell the IRS that someone is hiding unreported, taxable income, The Wall Street Journal notes. But it would be a "first step" in determining how much additional scrutiny might be necessary.
Think of it as giving another opportunity for the federal tax cops to establish probable cause for a financial stop and frisk. And that comes after Biden has already ordered the IRS to give greater scrutiny to transactions in the so-called sharing economy.
that extra scratch you have been making from Ebay or Facebook Market Place ...... get ready to pay taxes on that income