In recent weeks, over two thousand Nebraska credit union members, and 275,000 credit union members nationwide, directly contacted their Congressmen and Senators urging opposition to the IRS Tax Reporting proposal being pushed by the Biden Administration and some in Congress. The proposal would require credit unions and other financial institutions to report to the IRS the gross inflows and outflows on any personal or business account that holds over $600 annually. The proposal is being touted as a tool to help pay for the $3.5 trillion infrastructure reconciliation bill that the Biden Administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill are seeking.
CUNA, the League, and credit unions have sought direct communications with Nebraska’s Congressional delegation to oppose the proposal as extremely burdensome to credit unions in cost and in staff time, furthermore, an invasion of the personal financial privacy of credit union members. “This proposal would open up the personal and business accounts of nearly every credit union member to the IRS and the federal government,” said Brandon Luetkenhaus, chief advocacy officer of the Nebraska Credit Union League. “The cost and time that this would place upon credit unions and their staffs is unpalatable and the intrusion of member privacy is as well. It should be wholly rejected by Congress and abandoned by the Administration,” said Luetkenhaus. Credit unions are required to file IRS Form 1099-INT on the dividends received by members as well as report the income received by employees’ but this proposal would go much further by requiring the reporting on non-taxable events to the IRS.
The League and credit union advocates recently met with all three Nebraska Congressmen to urge their opposition to the proposal. Following those meetings, all three Congressmen co-signed a letter from Representative Emmer to House Leadership, the Treasury Department, and the IRS opposing the proposal. Senator Deb Fischer has voiced her strong opposition to the proposal and Senator Ben Sasse co-signed a letter to Senate Democrats urging them to abandon the proposal. “We are grateful to our Congressional Delegation for their strong opposition to this abhorrent proposal and to credit union members for making their voice heard on Capitol Hill,” said League CEO Scott Sullivan.
The House Ways and Means Committee did not include the proposal in their “mark-up” of the infrastructure reconciliation bill however the League indicated that the proposal is still on the table for the Biden Administration and for some in Congress.
