A proposal requiring increased financial institution reporting to the Internal Revenue Service is fundamentally flawed, CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan wrote to all 535 Congressional offices Wednesday. The CUNA and League-opposed language was not present in the House Ways and Means Committee-passed legislation, but could potentially be added as the reconciliation package moves to the House floor.

“[Credit unions] are concerned about the privacy of their nontax-related financial information, and how the government will use this to determine their tax obligation. This concern is not assuaged by adjusting the reporting threshold because, even at $10,000, virtually every American wage earner would still have their nontax-related financial data shared with the government,” Donovan wrote.

“They’re also concerned about the security of the treasure trove of information that the IRS wants. From the massive 2014 data breach at the Office of Personnel Management to this year’s IRS leak of federal tax returns, the federal government’s checkered history of warehousing personal data underscores the dangerous impracticality of this policy proposal,” he adds.

CUNA continues to call on credit union advocates to use its Grassroots Action Center to send a message outlining concerns with the proposal

Credit unions can also activate their members to send messages to Capitol Hill through CUNA’s Member Activation Program (MAP) community.