Treasury push on IRS reporting shows urgency of ICBA campaign

The Treasury Department and IRS continued pressing Congress to include an ICBA-opposed IRS reporting proposal in the pending budget package—demonstrating the continued need for community bankers to enlist consumers in opposing the plan.

Consumer Resources: ICBA is calling on community bankers to use its customizable email text and social media content to urge their customers and other consumers to contact Congress in opposition to the plan, which would require banks to report customer account information to the IRS.

Call Alert: ICBA also is now encouraging community bankers to call their members of Congress using a new ICBA call alert and customizable script on the proposal, which ICBA polling found 67% of consumers oppose.

Latest: The Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported that the agencies on Wednesday urged the House Ways and Means Committee to advance the proposal, which the panel has not yet taken up during its ongoing consideration of budget-reconciliation measures.

Impact: While committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) has hinted at questions over the proposal’s impact on lower-income individuals, the Treasury and IRS letters illustrate that the plan can be added to the spending package at any time.

More: A recent blog post from ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey details ICBA’s consumer-facing campaign, which has now generated more than 270,000 messages to Congress from roughly 90,000 consumers.