Posted on 11/16/2021 6:31:22 AM PST by Kaslin
Arguably one of the most concerning provisions in the Democrats’budget reconciliation package is enabling the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to look into American's bank accounts if they have deposits greater than $10,000, excluding salaries, each year. Not only does this provision represent a flagrant violation of privacy and a constitutional right to unreasonable search and seizures, but the provision could also leave Americans vulnerable to cybercrime and the threat of identity theft.
Under the proposal, banks would have to disclose to the IRS accounts "accounts that have total annual inflows or withdrawals of at least $10,000." The Treasury Department hopes that these new provisions will enable it to collect an additional $160 billion each year and $7 trillion in uncollected taxes over the next decade to fund social spending measures contained within the Build Back Better Act.
Proponents of the bill’s provisions, including Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), have claimed the proposals would allow the IRS to "zero in on tax cheats when the wealthy do not honestly report their income." Critics of the bill, most notably Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have claimed the bill's provisions amount to "new snooping powers" that will treat "normal American households like everybody is under audit."
However, not widely discussed are the cyber vulnerabilities the provisions would create and how it could lead to the loss of sensitive financial information. For example, alongside the total deposits, banks would also be required to provide the IRS bank account numbers and potentially other sensitive information such as Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and debit card numbers.
While the IRS already obtains some of this information from annual tax returns, mandating banks furnish it to the agency creates the opportunity for cybercriminals to obtain the information through advanced hacking tactics.
The transmission of this information occurs when cybercrime and data breaches are becoming increasingly common. In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) reported a total of 2,211,396 instances of cybercrime, with losses amounting to $13.3 billion. Additionally, estimates suggest that in 2020, there were over 1,000 data breaches in the United States, with 155 million records exposed to hackers. To put that number in context, half of America's population had at least one record exposed in 2020 and over two breaches each day.
The records obtained by hackers range from social media passwords to SSNs and other sensitive financial information.
While most of these cyber-attacks and data breaches targeted private entities, cybercriminals have also routinely targeted the federal government. For example, in 2020, the U.S. federal government was the victim of a massive data breach, with the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Treasury, and Homeland Security all being targeted by a Russian-linked group.
While the IRS was not a victim of the 2020 federal government hack, cybercriminals have targeted the agency in the past. In 2015, hackers were able to successfully breach the IRS'Get Transcriptsystem to obtain the personal information of 104,000 taxpayers, information that criminals could use to apply for credit cards and loans without the victim knowing.
Proponents of the bill’s provisions, including Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), have claimed the proposals would allow the IRS to "zero in on tax cheats when the wealthy do not honestly report their income." Critics of the bill, most notably Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have claimed the bill's provisions amount to "new snooping powers" that will treat "normal American households like everybody is under audit."
However, not widely discussed are the cyber vulnerabilities the provisions would create and how it could lead to the loss of sensitive financial information. For example, alongside the total deposits, banks would also be required to provide the IRS bank account numbers and potentially other sensitive information such as Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and debit card numbers.
While the IRS already obtains some of this information from annual tax returns, mandating banks furnish it to the agency creates the opportunity for cybercriminals to obtain the information through advanced hacking tactics.
The transmission of this information occurs when cybercrime and data breaches are becoming increasingly common. In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) reported a total of 2,211,396 instances of cybercrime, with losses amounting to $13.3 billion. Additionally, estimates suggest that in 2020, there were over 1,000 data breaches in the United States, with 155 million records exposed to hackers. To put that number in context, half of America's population had at least one record exposed in 2020 and over two breaches each day.
The records obtained by hackers range from social media passwords to SSNs and other sensitive financial information.
While most of these cyber-attacks and data breaches targeted private entities, cybercriminals have also routinely targeted the federal government. For example, in 2020, the U.S. federal government was the victim of a massive data breach, with the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Treasury, and Homeland Security all being targeted by a Russian-linked group.
While the IRS was not a victim of the 2020 federal government hack, cybercriminals have targeted the agency in the past. In 2015, hackers were able to successfully breach the IRS'Get Transcriptsystem to obtain the personal information of 104,000 taxpayers, information that criminals could use to apply for credit cards and loans without the victim knowing.
I’m telling you, the public is unaware and does care, until it’s too late.
Almost all of the rent I receive is cash. I am now going to have to find a way to launder it?
We all better buy some Tide, the new and improved version.
This is not targeted at the “wealthy.” This is intended to harass people on the low end of the scale. 10,000 per year is the threshold. People move money into checking accounts, and out of them, for many reasons. Savings to checking. Buy things. Send money back to savings.
This is to criminalize ordinary people and keep them scared under fear of a visit from biden’s gestapo.
But don’t worry. It’s only the first step. Second step is to eliminate cash. Then it’s total government control over finances (except those of members of congress and their sugar daddies who pay them to pass certain legislation).
The left is crafty. It knows how to turn this country communist without the folks becoming aware of it.
Somehow the Dims that imagine a right to privacy for killing babies don't see a right to privacy for how you spend your money.
It's a world turned upside-down.
Plus that 401k/IRA money is taxable as income so the gov gets its share too.
Agreed. Of course, I converted a yuugge chunk of ours to Roth IRA money with the low trump tax rates.
So, the Fourth Amendment prevents the government from interfering with prenatal infanticide, but not from meddling with persons, houses, papers, and effects.
Only a demonrat could promote such a twisted, tortured rendering of the Fourth Amendment.
Just how is the bank to know what money is "salary" and what money is not?
I have never informed my bank of the identity of any employers of mine - of even if I am employed.
If $11,000 comes in from Company ABC, and another $11,000 from Company XYZ, how is the bank to distinguish them? I might be employed by only one of those two companies - or by both of them - or by neither of them.
Regards,
Switch to the Gain Flings Pods; they leave no trace, except a nice smell for the IRS.
Which means any average Joe with direct deposit is being monitored.
The US government IS cyber-criminal. . . .
Yep. Salami tactics.
Note that the administration has submitted a candidate for Comptroller who is an outright communist (PhD dissertation on why Marxism is superior to capitalism).
I see people getting VERY creative...renters could start providing gift cards to grocery stores, etc...
10K per year. How many taxpayers conduct over 10K per year in checking? Many people making these laws up don’t have any clue about how much money is spent per year by individuals in this country and the massive tsunami of extra work that’s going to be piled on the IRS, I really care about the IRS 🙄, but this bit of legislation seems extremely inefficient.
Would seem pretty easy to inundate the system hence causing inoridinate delays in upcoming processing of CY21 returns.
bookmark
The IRS will protect our private information... just like they did with Donald Trump and just like the FBI does say with contacts and phone numbers and names sent to the NY Times and others from a illegal raid on someone who reports on a pedophile who showers with his daughter....
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