Bill Text: TX HCR15 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to oppose the expansion of the Internal Revenue Service's power to track bank account transactions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-10-17 - Referred to State Affairs [HCR15 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HCR15-Introduced.html
| By: Middleton | H.C.R. No. 15 | |
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| WHEREAS, The Biden administration's tax increase proposal | ||
| for fiscal year 2022 includes a number of provisions that would | ||
| place undue burdens on banks, small businesses, and law-abiding | ||
| American citizens; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The proposal seeks to increase tax enforcement | ||
| measures by requiring peer-to-peer payment transaction apps as well | ||
| as banks and other financial institutions to annually report | ||
| aggregated data on all account inflows and outflows of $600 or more | ||
| to the Internal Revenue Service; the reports would also disclose | ||
| whether transactions involved physical cash, foreign accounts, or | ||
| transfers between accounts with the same owner; there are serious | ||
| issues regarding privacy, compliance costs, and negative impacts on | ||
| low-income communities; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The proposal's low $600 threshold for reporting | ||
| would ensnare most active bank accounts, including those owned by | ||
| individuals and small businesses; as a result, the financial data | ||
| of the majority of bank accounts would be sent to the IRS, which | ||
| experiences more than one billion cyberattacks each year; in | ||
| addition, a June 2021 ProPublica article revealed a massive leak of | ||
| tax return data from the IRS, demonstrating that the agency is | ||
| unable or unwilling to protect taxpayer information; considering | ||
| its many vulnerabilities in cybersecurity, the IRS should not be | ||
| trusted with more private information; and | ||
| WHEREAS, By holding financial institutions responsible for | ||
| data collection and reporting, the proposal would force banks to | ||
| increase spending on additional staffing, technology, and other | ||
| resources; these costs could then be passed on to the depositors, | ||
| thereby burdening tax-compliant citizens and businesses; and | ||
| WHEREAS, People from both political parties have expressed | ||
| concern about the Biden administration's tax increase proposal; a | ||
| group of 141 House Republicans explained their position in a letter | ||
| to their Democratic colleagues, and House Democrats omitted the | ||
| bank reporting requirements in their September 2021 list of tax | ||
| policy changes due to the potential harm it may cause to low-income | ||
| communities; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The Biden administration's tax increase proposal | ||
| fails to consider cybersecurity risks and unjust burdens on lawful | ||
| individuals, and the United States Congress should oppose this | ||
| unprecedented intrusion into the privacy of Americans; now, | ||
| therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas, | ||
| 3rd Called Session, hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the | ||
| United States to oppose the burdensome reporting requirements | ||
| included in the Biden administration's tax increase proposals for | ||
| fiscal year 2022; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
