Sep 23, 2021

Marshall's legislation stops IRS from monitoring Kansans' bank transactions

Posted Sep 23, 2021 8:00 PM

WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Roger Marshall cosponsored the TAX GAP REFORM AND INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (IRS) ENFORCEMENT ACT to protect taxpayers against proposals to monitor Americans’ bank account transactions over $600 and provide guardrails against proposals to expand the IRS, according to a media release from his office Thursday.

“Requiring financial institutions to report any transaction over $600 to the IRS is incredibly intrusive, and violates the rights and privacy of the American taxpayer,” said Senator Marshall. “I’m proud to support this bill to hold the IRS accountable and halt them from harassing American taxpayers.”

Key provisions of the Tax Gap Reform and IRS Enforcement Act:

  1. Tax Gap Reform: Requires timely, annually-updated information on tax gap estimates in coordination with the Joint Committee on Taxation.
  2. Taxpayer Protection: Prevents the IRS from targeting Americans for their political and ideological beliefs, codifies President Biden’s pledge to not increase audits of taxpayers making less than $400,000 per year, and prohibits the establishment of new bank reporting requirements.
  3. Smarter Enforcement: Requires the IRS to use existing data and tools to improve its corporate audit selection process and increase enforcement against high-income non-filers.
  4. Closes the Expertise Gap: Creates an IRS enforcement fellowship pilot program to assist with the agency’s most complex audits and case selection decisions. Before hiring thousands of new agents, Congress should test the effectiveness of increasing expertise in a targeted way.