As part of the legislation contained in the Democrats $5 Trillion (as scored by the Congressional Budget Office) “New Green Deal” bill currently faltering because of in-fighting within the Democrat Party there is a provision that has escaped the notice of most Americans. As reported by the Wall Street Journal’s Richard Rubin and Orla McCaffrey, and Updated Sept. 15, 2021:
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig pressed lawmakers Wednesday to give the Internal Revenue Service more information about taxpayers’ bank accounts, as the Biden administration tries to salvage its struggling tax-compliance proposal. In letters to lawmakers, the administration officials again asked Congress to require banks to report annual inflows and outflows from bank accounts with at least $600 or at least $600 worth of transactions, a proposal aimed at letting the IRS target its audits more effectively. It would generate about $460 billion over a decade to cover the costs of Democrats’ planned expansion of the social safety net and climate-change policies, according to the administration.”
Let’s review --- “at least $600 worth of transactions” --- so understand what is happening here… If you have a bank account in a US bank and most Americans do because you cannot receive a paycheck from your employer or a Social Security payment or an IRS refund because all of these transactions are done by electronic transfer to your bank account. Even for those Millennials who think having a checking or savings account in a bank is just for those “Boomers” --- If you have a credit card in your pocket you too have a bank account.
So the Administration wants to know about every money transaction that you make even when you withdraw $100 from the ATM to buy groceries. Once the $600 threshold is reached all transaction after that will be reported. Just think for one minute how long it takes for your bank to make $600 worth of transactions on your behalf. Just to be clear the government already requires banks to report transactions that exceed the $10,000 threshold.
So American’s are about to be subjected to yet another round of “Big Brother” government monitoring because the government believes it will generate $460 Billion in revenue over 10 years.
But perhaps there is a better way to increase the revenue without impacting every Americans bank account.
I am talking … “remittances” --- money and goods that are earned in the United States but sent back to the “home country” of those who have come to the US both legally and illegally. The website “Migration Data Portal” provides the following for our understanding: (Last updated on 3 June 2021) “Remittances, usually understood as the money or goods that migrants send back to families and friends in origin countries, are often the most direct and well-known link between migration and development. Remittances exceed official development aid but are private funds. Global estimates of financial transfers by migrants include transactions beyond what are commonly assumed to be remittances, as the statistical definition used for the collection of data on remittances is broader (see IMF, 2009). Also, such estimates do not cover informal transfers.”
So … How many $$$ are we talking about here? The website “STATITA” tells us that: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, global remittance flows have proven more resilient than expected. This is especially true for inflows to low and middle-income countries. According to new World Bank data, global remittances are expected to total $702 billion in 2020, down from $719 billion in 2019 (-2.4 percent). Of that total, $540 billion are expected to have flowed into low and middle-income countries, down from $548 billion (-1.6 percent). And were, is this money earned in the US being sent? … STATITA goes on to tell us:
“While total remittance inflow was down, some countries actually increased it during the crisis quite substantially. Among them are Mexico, the third-biggest remittance recipient in the world, as well as Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the global numbers five, six and eight. Among developing nations, India and the Philippines had some of the smallest losses in 2020 compared to 2019, at 0.2 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively”.
Let’s be clear this is money earned in the US, in 2020 some $702Billion and is then sent out of the country to support and expand the economies of 3d world nations like China. Ok I get it – Come to America and earn money to send “home”.
In a report dated May 2019 “The Federation for American Immigration Reform” reports that … “A 2015 analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center concluded that there are roughly 45 million foreign-born individuals currently living in the United States. 1.Those foreign-born individuals typically have a large network of family, friends and colleagues who remain abroad. When those associates are residing in a country with an economy that is less robust than the United States, there is often a strong impetus to send money overseas to support them. The net result is that workers are sending roughly $150 billion out of the U.S. economy each year. 2. That money is not spent on goods or services in the United States. As a result, it is not subjected to sales taxes, excise taxes, restaurant taxes, etc. In addition, neither the vast majority of states nor the federal government impose a tax on overseas money transfers. The loss of tax revenue – that could be used to pay for a large number of public services consumed by aliens in the United States – is staggering”.
So there it is … in 2015 it was $150Billion and in 2020 it had increased to $705Billion down from $719Billion in 2019 and neither the vast majority of states nor the federal government impose a tax on overseas money transfers.
So if the Administration is looking for additional revenue I would think that imposing a tax on all overseas transfers, some $700+Billion per year, regardless of the amount being transferred, see they all know the rules and transfers are kept below the $10,000 reporting threshold, would generate far more than the anticipated $410Billion over ten years they want to get by surveilling every bank account in America. COME ‘ON MAN – do the math! COLLECT Your Fair Share from those not paying their fair share and…
Leave Hardworking American Citizens Alone!