IRS plan excluded from budget framework — for now

A Biden administration draft framework for the next round of congressional reconciliation discussions leaves out the ICBA-opposed IRS reporting proposal, though ICBA’s campaign against the plan continues.

Threat Continues: While the draft legislative text omits the IRS plan, the budget framework is still subject to ongoing negotiations among Democratic policymakers and projects $400 billion in revenue from closing the “tax gap”—leaving ample room for lawmakers to slip the proposal into the package, as ICBA has long warned.

Ongoing Grassroots: The exclusion of the IRS plan demonstrates that community banks and consumers are being heard, though ICBA continues urging community bankers to call their members of Congress in opposition and use customizable ICBA resources to rally consumers to speak out against the plan as negotiations continue.

News Release: ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey applauded the move while saying ICBA would continue opposing the plan as negotiations proceed. “The omission of the IRS plan from the Biden administration budget proposal is evidence of the impact community banks and consumers nationwide are having on the debate,” she said.

Growing Opposition: The IRS plan has come under increased scrutiny following this week’s letter from 21 House Democrats urging congressional leaders to exclude it from the reconciliation bill and Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) comments that he opposes it no matter the reporting threshold—but the reconciliation debate is far from over.