Speaking to reporters at the White House Monday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended the Democrat proposal, tucked into President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion Build Back Better spending plan, that would allow the IRS to monitor all bank transactions of $600 or more. She also claimed the "loudest" opposition to more IRS funding for snooping is from big banks, not small business owners or individuals worried about taxpayer rights.
Psaki doubles down on Biden administration's proposal to have the IRS spy on almost every American's bank account pic.twitter.com/T8NxmmiQDe
— Scott Sloofman (@ScottSloofman) October 18, 2021
Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed the proposal is still on the table and that Democrats plan to keep it in Biden's monstrous spending plan.
Republicans have been pushing back on the proposal and reminding the IRS that banks don't work for them.
"My constituents in Wyoming cannot believe that you support a proposal to require banks and credit unions to report customer data to the Internal Revenue Service for transactions of $600 or more. There are obvious privacy concerns for all Americans here and this represents a dramatic regulatory burden for community banks and credit unions in Wyoming and elsewhere," Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis said during a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing. “Bank customers are not subjects of the federal government. Banks do not work for the IRS. This is an invasion of privacy. Wyoming’s people literally will find alternatives to traditional banks just to thwart IRS access to their personal information, not because they’re trying to hide anything, but because they are not willing to share everything.”
Wyoming bank customers are NOT subjects of the federal government.
— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) September 28, 2021
Wyoming Banks do NOT work for the IRS. pic.twitter.com/648Zit7cXL
According to the IRS Taxpayer Bill of Rights, taxpayers have the right to privacy.
"IRS Publication 1, Your Rights as a Taxpayer, includes a full list of taxpayers’ rights. It includes The Right to Privacy. Taxpayers have the right to expect that any IRS inquiry, examination, or enforcement action will comply with the law and be no more intrusive than necessary, and will respect all due process rights, including search and seizure protections and will provide, where applicable, a collection due process hearing," IRS.gov states.