Proposed IRS reporting legislation affects almost every American with a bank account
Editor:
The Biden Administration is proposing a sweeping expansion of tax information reporting aimed at raising revenue to help offset the cost of additional spending programs in the American Families Plan. The proposal, if enacted, would require banks to report to the IRS information on the inflows and outflows of every account above a de minimis threshold of $600 during the year — or any account that has an average of $50 worth of activity each month.
Bank of Botetourt, with 13 branch locations covering more than 2,500 square miles around Virginia, strongly opposes this proposed tax information-reporting requirement. While policymakers insist this provision is aimed at high-income earners, it sweeps in almost every American with a bank account – including our local customers. This is bad public policy and should be rejected for a number of reasons you should care about – privacy, impact and cost. We are hearing from our customers about this proposal, and they do not like it.
On the privacy side, the IRS is a constant target for hackers and has had multiple data breaches. Adding this enormous amount of data for every account that meets the $600 de minimis threshold will expose even more taxpayer financial data to cyber risk.
The Biden Administration has also failed to explain how this new information would be utilized to close the tax gap, and why virtually every American should sacrifice their financial privacy to enable closer inspection of the top 1 percent of taxpayers. There is already an extremely high level of information provided to the IRS, especially over the past several years, and our bank and all banks are already subjected to a tremendous amount of compliance regulations.
There is also concern about the impact that this proposal would have on the unbanked and underbanked. Asking these groups to trust the IRS with more of their personal information would only add to the apprehension these groups already feel, and, as a result, cause them to be even more reluctant to have bank accounts.
The impact on average Americans and the safety and privacy of their financial information would not be mitigated by raising the reporting threshold to $10,000 or even higher. The proposal contemplates reporting on gross annual inflows and outflows of customer accounts. Consider a taxpayer who earns $18 an hour, has no other income, and pays rent and other living expenses – the sum of gross inflows and outflows after taxes would be around $60,000. Self-employed contractors, who buy materials and install them for customers, will commonly have gross inflows and outflows that far exceed the income they earn. That is just an example – in the end, whether it is average workers or self-employed citizens, virtually all Americans will be subject to this new reporting.
For the IRS to design system capabilities to capture and report account inflows and outflows and other information is complex, expensive to maintain, and will take years to fully implement.
On the banking side, regardless of the threshold chosen, financial institutions like ours would be required to develop the necessary technology and processes to identify the accounts, report to the IRS and customers, and educate customers and our bank staff on what the information does (and does not) mean. All of which would be expensive endeavors.
While this proposal claims to go after the wealthiest Americans the IRS believes are dodging taxes, in actuality this proposal is neither targeted on the wealthy nor focused on those who dodge their tax bill.
Bank of Botetourt strongly supports ensuring that everyone pays their fair share of taxes, but we believe that only a more targeted approach aimed at those truly suspected of tax avoidance merits consideration. Creating a huge dragnet targeted at all taxpayer accounts is like building a haystack to then look for the needle and simply goes too far.
Virginia banks like Bank of Botetourt continue to oppose this proposal, and we hope you will express your concerns to our elected officials as well. To express your opposition to this misguided proposal, we encourage you to contact your lawmakers here: aba.social/ContactCongress or https://secureamericanopportunity.com/take-action/oppose-new-irs-reporting-requirements-take-action/
Lyn Hayth III, President
& CEO, Bank of Botetourt
Wilson has done her homework, should be next Buchanan District School Board member
Editor:
Our School Board has attracted a lot of attention in recent months thanks to the pandemic and public concerns about what’s called Critical Race Theory (CRT). A number of parents object to their children being exposed to CRT in public schools, and they are annoyed by the challenges created by mask mandates, school bus route interruptions and the notion that “quarantine” will affect their family.
As a longtime School Board watcher, it’s interesting to me what stirs the emotions in parents, enough so that they’ll become outspoken critics of the School Board. Too often, I’ve thought, sports have been the driver behind parental unrest. In a way, it’s refreshing to see parents concerned about something other than sports.
Certainly, some parents have worried about all the “achievement” testing that has gone on in the past, and how those tests affect the perception of their children.
This is not to say parents are not worried about their children’s academics, their safety in the schools, their deportment, the availability of help for a struggling child and so on, and so on.
That said, when a person steps up to run for the School Board, here’s what I hope are their intentions:
- That they recognize keeping high standards in our schools is critical for our children to be competitive in today’s world…not just in Botetourt, Virginia or the United States. While I personally prefer that we are able to provide great opportunities for our children locally, I realize that many of them have aspirations to venture further than the borders of our valley, the Old Dominion and the United States. Already, we have former county students serving in a variety of capacities around the world; including those high in military command.
- That they are not so focused on one or two peeves that they forget the School Board actually has limited say on the county level about the structure of education. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state. You may want to look that up, but the short explanation is, local governing bodies cannot do anything the State does not specifically say they can do. In the School Board realm, that means the Virginia Board of Education regulations and authorizing legislation passed by the General Assembly have way more control over a child’s education than the local School Board. Throw in the Federal regulations, and, well, it’s way more.
- That they will not violate State and Federal regulations, because if they do, it’s going to cost us more than the legal fees to defend those violations. If we, as citizens, want changes up the ladder of regulations, then we need to find and elect representatives who will fight to make those changes.
- That they understand they are totally dependent on other elected bodies for funding. The Commonwealth provides about half of the budget in Botetourt, the Federal boys and girls a smidgen; and we as county taxpayers, the balance (which is getting above half the cost of running our schools). Our General Assembly can be fickle about funding, and each year there’s a dance to find out exactly what the formula will be for determining the dollars coming from Richmond. Then, it’s up to the Board of Supervisors to pony up the rest of the money requested by the School Board, or tell the School Board, “No more.”
- That the School Board is responsible (even when the supervisors say, “No more”) for our buildings and buses, attendance lines, approving recommendations for hiring all staff (not the actual hiring and firing, except the superintendent), deciding on health insurance for employees (and costs), how to attract bus drivers, and approving a rather thick Policy Manual that is the guide for the board and the administration. Oh, and many of those policies are required by the State. They have to be adopted; as does the curriculum within the parameters set by the State, and from a textbook list approved by the State.
- That the serious items coming before the School Board in the future are some of the same ones that have been a challenge for a while. Despite a new elementary school in Blue Ridge, Botetourt still has a bunch of old school buildings, even though there have been some updates. At the forefront, in my opinion, is what to do about Lord Botetourt High School.
- That the demographics of the county are changing, with the northern part of the county experiencing a continuing decline in population. That large swath of land that encompasses the Fincastle and Buchanan Election Districts lost population from 2010 to 2020, according to the 2020 Census. I’m sure it got older, demographically, as well. That means fewer students, or potentially so. • That means the School Board will likely have to look at attendance lines again; and perhaps at consolidating elementary schools that serve students from Troutville, to Buchanan, to Fincastle, to Eagle Rock to Glen Wilton to Iron Gate to Oriskany. By the way, as a whole, the county population was pretty stagnant, but did have an increase of 350 or so since 2010. That increase in population is in the southern part of the county. Could that mean another attendance line change for LBHS and JRHS is in our near future?
Am I concerned about CRT being taught in our schools? Yes, but to assure it never is, we need to look to our State representatives, or change them.
Instead of worrying about our own School Board adopting something like CRT, I’m way more concerned about how the members will deal with the items I listed above. These are the real challenges for our students and us this year, next year and 10 years down the road.
That’s why I’m voting for Jenny Wilson to fill the seat up for election in the Buchanan Election District. I’ve known Jenny as a family friend, a church friend and as a patient; in all three capacities I’ve been impressed with the knowledge and attitude she brings to the table. She’s also done her homework on what serving on the School Board really is, and she has committed her time to do the job. By the way, she opposes allowing CRT in our schools.
It’s important to me that someone of her caliber be in the seat that Michelle Austin is relinquishing. Michelle has been an outstanding School Board member, and we deserve no less with our next representative, that’s why I encourage you to join me in voting for Jenny Wilson as the Buchanan District representative.
Ed McCoy
Buchanan
Wilson best choice for Buchanan District
Editor:
Drama, disrespectful yelling or finger pointing at others, this is not the way Jenny Wilson gets her opinion expressed. As a member of the Botetourt County School Board, Jenny will listen calmly and courteously to everyone who speaks. After hearing their views on a subject, she will then make careful and wise decisions that will be best for the students of the Buchanan District as well as all in Botetourt County.
Jenny, Morgan and their children have been faithful members of the church I belong to for many years. Following recent surgery, I needed physical therapy and was surprised to hear that Jenny would be my therapist. When she came to my home, she listened to my history and developed a plan for therapy. She also inspected my home and suggested ways to make it easier to navigate inside. She was always thinking of ways to improve my quality of life and helped with insurance roadblocks.
I am convinced that Jenny will carry this mindset over to the School Board and make her the best choice to represent the Buchanan District. Jenny will listen carefully to everyone who voices their opinions and concerns. She will then weigh what she hears and will work in the confines of what is mandated by the State of Virginia to do what she thinks is best. Jenny is not a “yes” person. She is not afraid to speak up for what she believes and will push for good changes when needed. She will work calmly and professionally with the other members of the School Board to institute better ways to help parents and teachers see that students get the best education possible.
Jenny has been a working member and president of Buchanan Elementary PTA for many years. She knows that every year teachers have new rules and constraints put on their schedules. However, our teachers still work professionally and with consideration toward students and parents to educate our children. Jenny wants to help everyone succeed and will work tirelessly to help them do so. We ask that you don’t let negative emotions and half-facts of others sway you and ask that you cast your vote for Jenny.
Barbara Stull
William Stull
Buchanan
Veterans, when you are gone…
Editor:
I ran into a fellow veteran as he was entering the Botetourt Clerk’s Office on a mission. His mission was driven by a veteran’s family who had looked to him and the veteran community for assistance concerning a military funeral. I shared with him that the same has happened to me on numerous occasions and that I had penned an article to the paper in August 2019 to address the issue.
We agreed it was a good idea to readdress the issue with some updated information: Veterans can file their DD-214/discharge paperwork with the Clerk of Court in Virginia for free. No appointment is required. Simply take your original/certified DD-214 and a form of ID to the Clerk’s Office, the clerks will copy/file your DD-214 and return the original to you. Once filed, access to a veteran’s DD-214 is limited to family members, funeral services and legal services on a need-to-know basis only.
Filed with the Clerk’s Office or not, communicate with your family where your DD-214 or equivalent discharge paperwork is located; they will need it at some point – plan for the inevitable.
If your paperwork is not still in your possession, go to https://www.archives.gov/veterans and request copies. The funeral home/director will coordinate the Military Honors with the veteran’s paperwork when it is necessary to do so.
Veterans, please take time to devise a plan that lessens stress on your family during a time that will be difficult enough dealing with your loss. May God bless you and your family. Thanks for your service to our great nation.
Frank Ware
Buchanan
