CUNA wrote in support of a House bill Wednesday that would prohibit implementation of increased financial institution reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act (H.R. 5586). The bill was introduced by Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.).

“This new proposal would result in banks and credit unions turning over to the IRS sensitive account details that in and of themselves do not constitute taxable events. This would leave the IRS with a massive trove of personal financial data that would be used in a manner that is not detailed in the proposal. This is risky and dangerous,” the letter reads. “We are also concerned about the effect this proposed new requirement will have on credit unions. Privacy and data security are paramount issues for credit unions and their members.

“Whether it is the massive data breach at the federal Office of Personnel Management in 2014 or this year’s IRS leak of federal tax returns of many wealthy Americans, we remain doubtful that such data will remain safe and private from hackers and other malevolent individuals,” it adds.

A similar CUNA-supported bill was introduced by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) earlier this month.

CUNA issued an action alert calling on credit unions to send their concerns to Capitol Hill using its Grassroots Action Center. As of this week, nearly 600,000 messages have been sent.

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