Posted on 06/19/2008 12:10:34 PM PDT by XR7
Broad, invasive provision touches nearly every aspect of American commerce.WASHINGTON, DC - Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of America’s small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government.
FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented: "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week. Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America's small businesses are breathtaking."
"Privacy groups like the Center for Democracy and Technology and small business organizations like the NFIB sharply criticized this idea when it first appeared earlier this year. What is the federal government's purpose with this kind of detailed data? How will this database be secured, and who will have access? Many small proprietors use their Social Security number as their tax ID. How will their privacy be protected? What compliance costs will this impose on businesses? Why is Sen. Chris Dodd putting this provision in a housing bailout bill? The bill also includes the creation of a new national fingerprint registry for mortgage brokers.
"At a time when concerns about both identity theft and government spying are paramount, Congress wants to create a new honey pot of private data that includes Social Security numbers. This bill reduces privacy across America's payment processing systems and treats every American small business or eBay power seller like a criminal on parole by requiring an unprecedented level of reporting to the federal government. This outrageous idea is another reason to delay the housing bailout legislation so that Senators and the public at large have time to examine its full implications."
From the Senate Bill Summary:
Payment Card and Third Party Network Information Reporting. The proposal requires information reporting on payment card and third party network transactions. Payment settlement entities, including merchant acquiring banks and third party settlement organizations, or third party payment facilitators acting on their behalf, will be required to report the annual gross amount of reportable transactions to the IRS and to the participating payee. Reportable transactions include any payment card transaction and any third party network transaction. Participating payees include persons who accept a payment card as payment and third party networks who accept payment from a third party settlement organization in settlement of transactions.
A payment card means any card issued pursuant to an agreement or arrangement which provides for standards and mechanisms for settling the transactions. Use of an account number or other indicia associated with a payment card will be treated in the same manner as a payment card. A de minimis exception for transactions of $10,000 or less and 200 transactions or less applies to payments by third party settlement organizations. The proposal applies to returns for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2010. Back-up withholding provisions apply to amounts paid after December 31, 2011. This proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years.
Congress... Robbing us of our liberty, one amendment at a time....
The Oklahoma house has passed a bill declaring sovereignty from the USG under the Tenth Amendment, it went to the senate there.
And wasn't it Montana that pointed out that RKBA was the reason they consented to join the Union, just recently?
The natural tendency for all governments is to turn tyrannical. And it happens under the naive generations that actually trust government, leaving the battle to renew those freedoms to wiser generations. Guess which one we are.
EBay should be all over this and notify every user. I wonder how many users EBay has on their e/mail list?
It’s always “the slippery slope” that gets em
And one little glitch in the unbelievably massive computer system used to store and process all this data, and try to get out from under that audit!
It's for the children...
Christopher Baby the under slice of the Waitress Sandwich with Kennedy must have received another mortgage under the standard.
So how did your ancestors get a 4 year head start on mine? But I understand the point.
America as we know it is in peril.
Whenever any of us makes or spends a dollar, due to our own efforts/industry, our Wash. DC overlords expect to `wet their beaks’, donchaknow? Because that’s their due, and every tax dollar is well spent.
So the landed peasants came to realize that they didn’t need to be bothered with such things as `rights’, because those things just upset everybody, and they learned to be happy paying most of what they earned over to their federal lords.
And they all lived happily ever after. Or at least the inner party did.
But they will also have a database that includes seller and the buyers transaction. The States would be interested in knowing this to extract sales taxes!
Yes, but they never SEE the slope till they’re already sliding down it.
Regards,
That’s what I’m thinking.
As a 15th generation born and raised Mainer (first settled in the Portland area in 1632)I take the privacy issue very seriously. The rest of it, the tax issue, I am sure it sits just fine with the “Bangor Democrat”in the Blaine House.
I agree with all you said. Unfortunately I concluded years ago that liberty is incompatible with advanced technology, not to mention a government that exchanged its symbolic torch of liberty for a cornucopia of handouts, benefits and subsidies.
There can be no second revolution. All the govt has to do is adopt the battle cry “The rebels want to stop YOUR benefits!” and the millions who get theirs will be on the side of the welfare state.
We who believe in self-sufficiency and independence will be marginalized, outlawed, perhaps immolated a la Waco.
It won’t happen soon, but the frog’s warming up at a tolerable rate.
We deserve the government we allow.
Huh? So, by your reasoning, it's OK for the government to collect info on every internet transaction (a clear invasion of privacy) in order for them to collect taxes on eeeevil cigarette tax dodgers?
BTW, I have a neighbor who buys cigarettes on line. There are several states that require the vendor to collect taxes for internet cigarette sales. Guess what the vendor he deals with has done? Rather than deal with the bureaucratic BS, they refuse to sell to people in those states.
Aside from privacy issues, do you have any idea what a massive headache this will be to internet vendors? How the paperwork and time involved will be passed onto consumers? And considering the frequency with which hackers gain access to government computers, how it will spook buyers?
I guess not, as long as people buying cigarettes on line "pony up," right?
One of the things I do for my clients - who are psychotherapists - as a courtesy only, is process credit card payments for the patient’s co-pay. Recd a letter last week from the bank that handles this for me stating that they MAY have to begin withholding back-up payments for tax purposes. Let’s say “someone” determines my tax rate is 20%. The patient pays $20, I process the payment, the credit card company withholds their percentage plus 20% and pays me the balance. They would then remit the 20% to IRS and I would have to track all of this nonsense and make sure that I reported all of these $ to IRS. I’m a small company, just imagine the headache and nightmare for a large company!!!
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