posted July 04, 2008 01:11 PM
Hidden deep in the Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision inserted by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of America's small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government. From the Bill Summary:
Payment Card and Third Party Network Information Reporting. The proposal requires information reporting on payment card and third party network transactions. Payment settlement entities, including merchant acquiring banks and third party settlement organizations, or third party payment facilitators acting on their behalf, will be required to report the annual gross amount of reportable transactions to the IRS and to the participating payee. Reportable transactions include any payment card transaction and any third party network transaction. Participating payees include persons who accept a payment card as payment and third party networks who accept payment from a third party settlement organization in settlement of transactions. A payment card means any card issued pursuant to an agreement or arrangement which provides for standards and mechanisms for settling the transactions. Use of an account number or other indicia associated with a payment card will be treated in the same manner as a payment card. A de minimis exception for transactions of $10,000 or less and 200 transactions or less applies to payments by third party settlement organizations. The proposal applies to returns for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2010. Back-up withholding provisions apply to amounts paid after December 31, 2011. This proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years.
FreedomWorks
June 25, 2008
Congress Uses Same Offset Twice to Cheat Budget Rules
Congressional leaders use same $9.8 billion '"revenue offset" in two different pieces of pending legislation.
Contact: Adam Brandon
Phone: 202-942-7612
Email: abrandon@freedomworks.org
Washington, DC - Congress is using the same "revenue offset" in two different bills to mask their combined budget impact, FreedomWorks policy analysts discovered today. The measure, which creates a new IRS database of small business transactions, is being used to offset $9.8 billion in new spending in the Senate’s Dodd-Countrywide mortgage bailout, as well as $9.8 billion in tax relief in the House AMT "patch" bill.
"Pay-as-you-go," or Paygo, budgeting requires that new spending or tax cuts have offsetting spending cuts or revenue increases to maintain a neutral impact on the deficit. Enforcing Paygo is a self-proclaimed priority for many in Congress.
Beyond the accounting gimmicks, the new government database created by the "revenue offset" is highly controversial and is opposed by small business and privacy advocates.
FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe commented, "Trying to follow these bills is like a watching a game of Three Card Monte. This Congress can’t even keep track of the legislation that creates the latest over-reaching government database. So how can we trust it with a new database of sensitive information about nearly every eBay power seller?"
For more on the Dodd-Countrywide mortgage bill and the database tracking provision, please visit FreedomWorks.org.
Lindaland
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posted July 04, 2008 01:11 PM
posted July 07, 2008 11:09 AM
