A number of viral social media posts have claimed that Congress is attempting to pass a bill that would give the Internal Revenue Service the power to track all financial transactions coming to and from bank accounts with more than $600.
The claim is largely accurate: A proposal from the Treasury Department suggests “a comprehensive financial account information reporting regime” to crack down on tax evasion, and would require banks to report the gross inflows and outflows of all accounts for which the total cash flow exceeds $600. In other words, it does not matter if the bank account has less than $600 in it at any given time: If the cash going into and out of the account exceeds $600, the Treasury proposal would require banks to turn certain account information over to the IRS. The required information does not include individual transactions, with the IRS receiving access only to the total inflow and outflow numbers for accounts.
The proposal was part of the Biden administration’s 2022 fiscal year proposed budget and while it is not currently a law, it is being considered as a provision in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill currently being debated by Congress.
If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.
Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.
With your membership, you only have the ability to comment on The Morning Dispatch articles. Consider upgrading to join the conversation everywhere.