Fight IRS Reporting Mandates

To Freedom Bank Customers and Members of Our Community,

We care about you, your finances, and your privacy, so we want to let you know about a concerning proposal taking shape in Washington. If passed, the proposal would require financial institutions to report the inflows and outflows on personal and business accounts to the IRS.

Specifically, the proposed fiscal 2022 budget would require banks and other financial institutions to report to the IRS on the deposits and withdrawals of all business and personal accounts with a balance of more than $600.

Source: Pages 88-89 of the FY2022 Revenue Proposal: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/General-Explanations-FY2022.pdf

The proposal would:

• Constitute a broad, unwarranted infringement on the privacy of all bank customers.
• Be intrusive and indiscriminate.
• Undermine the goal of reducing the unbanked.
• Increase taxpayer complexity and confusion.
• Overwhelm the IRS with personal financial data and increase risk of data breach.

All Americans have a fundamental right to financial privacy. IRS data collection should be tied directly to tax liability and should be no broader than absolutely necessary. The Administration’s proposal would equate to a fishing expedition unsupported by reasonable suspicion of tax evasion. This proposed new expansive reporting approach to tax collection is unprecedented and warrants serious Congressional scrutiny.

Freedom Bank will not stand for this, but we need your help to ensure policymakers hear us loud and clear. If you want to make your voice heard by policymakers or learn more about this proposal, visit banklocally.org/privacy.

You can also use the official contact forms to directly email our Members of Congress. Sample text for a message is included in this document: https://www.freedombankmt.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Contact-Members-of-Congress.docx

Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to continuing to serve you and our community.