IRS

Fearing government intrusion, financial institutions’ own clients rallied against the Biden administration plan for their account information to be shared with the IRS. Their involvement added weight to the industry’s opposition.

A proposal that would enlist financial institutions’ help in raising tax revenue to pay for President Biden’s social policy agenda lost steam after objections from a key senator. The administration was said to be narrowing the plan’s scope to preserve its chances.

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a swing Democratic vote in deliberations over President Biden's social spending bill, signaled opposition to requiring financial institutions to report customer account information to help catch tax evaders. The measure "is going to be gone," he predicted.

In their first direct appeal to President Biden, financial institutions and other industries' trade lobbies called on the administration to abandon its proposal that would give the Internal Revenue Service new information on customer accounts.

Democrats proposed raising the account threshold and exempting certain transactions from a measure enlisting financial institutions’ help in catching tax cheats. But opponents say the changes are insufficient and centrist lawmakers — whose support is crucial to enact the plan — were mum.

A House member suggested she and other party moderates are open to revamping or even scrapping a plan that would require banks to report customer account information to the Internal Revenue Service.

Banks and other stakeholders are trying to stop a proposal requiring financial institutions to submit more account data, but the Biden administration says opponents of the measure are spreading the false notion that it would reveal information about specific transactions.

The financial sector had been outraged over a Senate proposal requiring data submissions for accounts with at least $600 of inflows and outflows. House leaders are aiming to raise that threshold to broaden support, but industry groups say they still oppose the idea.

Requiring financial firms to report customer account data to the IRS as a means of catching tax cheats would be intrusive and costly, industry officials say. Backers of the measure say those claims are exaggerated.