The Top Ten Ways to Get Yourself Surveilled by the IRS

Washington, D.C. — The Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee took another whack Thursday at a Biden Administration proposal to force banks to report to the IRS on their account holders’ private annual aggregate financial activity.

The administration has repeatedly pushed back against its critics who claim the initiative will lead to banks reporting individual transactions to the IRS. Opponents of the initiative say that no matter where the threshold for reporting is $600 as originally put forward or $10,000 as it is now, the reporting of aggregate data will still act as a trigger for more audits.

Experts in tax policy say that even at the $10,000 level, most Americans could still expect to have their private information turned over to the IRS. What the Biden Administration wants targets people who are not payroll wage earners, meaning tradesmen and women, independent contractors, farmers, and others who do not get paid a set wage every two weeks.

“Democrats’ IRS surveillance scheme is not about going after high earners and wealthy corporations, but instead is about going after working Americans and Main Street job creators — who Democrats assume are tax cheats,” the committee said in a release that also identified the top ten ways to get yourself surveilled by the IRS:

1. Sending your child to college. You worked hard, you saved, and now that investment in your child’s future pulls you into the IRS dragnet.
2. Working as a blue-collar worker. If you’re a local contractor, plumber, or hairdresser — or simply don’t get paid on a W2 — you will have your bank accounts monitored.
3. Taking out a loan to buy equipment. Want to start a new business or invest in your current one? That’ll cost you your privacy. 
4. Sending money or loan money to family members. Have you ever helped a loved one financially who has fallen on tough times? Biden wants the IRS to know.
5. Providing financial support to elderly parents. Do you help pay household expenses for your elderly parent or grandparent? If so, their account will be swooped up in the IRS surveillance scheme.
6. Receiving Democrats’ “cash-for-kids” welfare. If you receive the Child Tax Credit payments by paper check — you’ll have your bank account monitored. 
7. Receiving dependent care flexible savings account reimbursements. If you pay for childcare using the Democrat’s beefed-up dependent care flexible spending account (FSA), your account will be reported to the IRS.
8. Taking up a part-time gig as an Uber driver. Do you work hard and make $200 or more on nights and weekends driving for Uber? Gas is expensive but it’s nothing compared to that IRS audit that will be triggered as part of the Biden bank surveillance scheme.
9. Selling goods at a farmer’s market or Etsy shop. Do you create something or grow something and sell it directly to a consumer? If you did and deposited those dollars into a bank account, you’ll be reported.
10. Saving for and making a large purchase. Want to buy a new car? Or do some home renovations? Or take your family on a trip to Disney World? Your bank accounts will wind up in a dragnet.

BONUS:

1. Purchasing groceries for a family of four. With the cost of groceries skyrocketing under Bidenflation – your account will be reported to the IRS even sooner.
2. Going on Democrats’ expanded unemployment benefits. Ironically enough, if you’ve been receiving Democrats’ overly generous unemployment benefits that have paid you more to stay home than to reconnect to work, you’ll also qualify to have the IRS monitor your account.

Despite the apparent levity of Thursday’s release, the issue remains serious. The government’s increasing desire to surveil private activity using the new technologies made available by Big Tech is worrisome. Privacy, as we have known it for most of our lives, may become outmoded yet there’s a practical side to this too. 

The revenues needed to pay for Biden’s big government Socialist agenda aren’t there and the higher taxes included in the Bernie Biden budget resolution won’t generate them. under the current tax code. Remember, the latest analysis says the new spending and benefits included in their proposal is nearly twice as big as the $3.5 trillion over ten years is advertised as being. That’s a lot of money — and thinking you can find it by upping the number of audits is like saying it can be found between the couch cushions. The increased reporting to the IRS to trigger more audits exists primarily so the politicians who want to spend more money enlarging the welfare state can say it’s paid for. If instead, we fined politicians for telling lies, the budget would soon be balanced with plenty of money left over. 

Peter Roff can be reached at RoffColumns AT GMAIL.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeterRoff.

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Peter Roff

Peter Roff is affiliated with several Washington, D.C. public policy organizations and is a former U.S. News and World Report contributing editor who appears regularly as a commentator on the One America News network. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PeterRoff.