Barb,
I expressed this very frustration to our Congressman the other day. Not only are we to be the on duty cops for money laundering and suspicious activity,
but also for elder abuse, unemployment fraud, internet dating scams and now reporting to the IRS on cash flows. I told someone the other day, "I didn't
sign up to be de-facto law enforcement. I wanted to be a banker."
The danger in all of this is that we are being asked to be all things to all people. Or said differently, "jack of all trades and the master of none." How
can we be the best bankers when we are expected to do others work? Also, we would only be reporting on a portion of a person's financial picture and
as I read about this, would be an incomplete picture of what they may/may not be doing. Next thing they'll ask is for a financial transaction tax.
Counting the days until retirement.
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Original Message:
Sent: 5/17/2021 12:19:00 PM
From: Barb Rehm
Subject: Tuesday Topic: Taxes
I've got two related stories on taxes for you to chew on. The first is from American Banker, "Banks Balk at Biden Plan to Collect Clients' Tax Data." Designed to pay for its infrastructure package, the Biden administration wants to use the banking industry to ensure wealthy people are paying their full tax bill on investment and business income. Yes, it reminds me, too, of the way the government uses the banking industry to police money launderers. The President's proposal would ensure "the wealthiest Americans play by the same set of rules as all other Americans," according to President Biden's American Families Plan. "It would require financial institutions to report information on account flows so that earnings from investments and business activity are subject to reporting more like wages already are."
Rest assured the industry's trade groups are opposing this plan with all they've got. But our second story today, "Tax the Rich? Executives Predict Biden's Big Plans Will Flop" in Politico, indicates the odds of a broad tax package being enacted are shrinking by the day. "Lobbyists believe that the combination of inflation fears and an economy that is showing signs of booming but remains vulnerable will leave them plenty of room to kill most of Biden's proposed tax increases." Here's hoping that includes any plan to turn banks into cops for the IRS.
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Barb Rehm
Senior Managing Director
IntraFi Network
Arlington VA
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