an explanation -- Senate Bill Requires eBay, etc., All Credit Card Companies, to Report Transactions to Government

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Larry Tesler [tesler () nomodes com]
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 3:19 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: Re: [IP] Senate Bill Requires eBay, etc., All Credit Card Companies, to Report Transactions to Government

Dave,

This press release may simply be a smokescreen thrown up by Dick Armey to try to derail the Housing Bill, which 
President Bush has threatened to veto but the Senate has enough votes to override.

Dodd's runs the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs so it is not so surprising to see a banking provision 
in the bill.



Earlier this week, the issue that opponents raised was that Countrywide Bank might somehow benefit from the bill. The 
issue they raise below is that large merchants who fail to report large sales paid by credit card may get caught by the 
IRS--beginning in 2011, if the bill is not revised before then. According to them, the right to conceal such income 
from the IRS is a "privacy right".


As every American worker knows, employers have to report annual wages to the employee and to the IRS on Form W-2 so 
that employees can't hide employment income. Similarly, payers of dividends, interest, consulting fees and other kinds 
of non-payroll income must report such payments, on an annual aggregate basis per payee, to the IRS and to the payee, 
on Form 1099.



It appears from the bill summary that its authors want to make it similarly difficult for at least some merchants to 
avoid taxes by failing to report large sales. For example, if you are a merchant and your customer uses a credit card 
to buy an item costing more than $10,000, the merchant bank (or other payment clearing entity) may have to aggregate 
that purchase into an annual report that they send to you (the merchant) and the IRS. The report would not identify the 
buyers, only the seller, and would not list individual transactions, just totals by merchant.



Wher might privacy issues actually surface? It seems to me that if there is an IRS audit, in addition to reviewing the 
merchant's business records as the IRS can do today, the IRS could also review the merchant bank's records, which would 
name buyers. However, such an audit would reveal no information that an honest merchant would have had to show the IRS 
auditor anyway.



I'm not sure which upsets Armey more: the closing of a loophole that a few dishonest businesses use to evade $1 billion 
a year in taxes, or a bipartisan effort to lessen the pain of the housing crisis. He seems to be unhappy about both.



Larry Tesler


----- Original Message ----
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
To: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 12:54:24 AM
Subject: [IP] Senate Bill Requires eBay, etc., All Credit Card Companies, to Report Transactions to Government


________________________________________
From: Gregory Hicks [ghicks () well com<mailto:ghicks () well com>]
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 2:49 AM
To: David Farber
Cc: ghicks () cadence com<mailto:ghicks () cadence com>
Subject: Senate Bill Requires eBay<http://www.ebay.com/>, etc., All Credit Card Companies, to Report Transactions to 
Government

Dave:

For IP if you wish.

Regards,
Gregory Hicks

From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah () shipwright com<mailto:rah () shipwright com>>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:55:34 -0400

<http://www.freedomworks.org/processor/printer_press.php?press_id=2571>

FreedomWorks

June 19, 2008
Senate Housing Bill Requires eBay, Amazon, Google<http://www.google.com/>, and All Credit Card
Companies to Report Transactions to the Government
Broad, invasive provision touches nearly every aspect of American
commerce.
Contact:  Adam Brandon
Phone:  (202) 942-7698
Email: abrandon () freedomworks org<mailto:abrandon () freedomworks org>

Washington, D.C. -  Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page
Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the
privacy and operation of nearly all of Americas 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.

FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented: "This is a provision with
astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week.
Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in
America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but
the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal<http://www.paypal.com/>,
Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online
businesses. The privacy implications for America's small businesses are
breathtaking."

"Privacy groups like the Center for Democracy and Technology and small
business organizations like the NFIB sharply criticized this idea when
it first appeared earlier this year. What is the federal government's
purpose with this kind of detailed data? How will this database be
secured, and who will have access? Many small proprietors use their
Social Security number as their tax ID. How will their privacy be
protected? What compliance costs will this impose on businesses? Why is
Sen. Chris Dodd putting this provision in a housing bailout bill?  The
bill also includes the creation of a new national fingerprint registry
for mortgage brokers.

"At a time when concerns about both identity theft and government
spying are paramount, Congress wants to create a new honey pot of
private data that includes Social Security numbers. This bill reduces
privacy across America's payment processing systems and treats every
American small business or eBay power seller like a criminal on parole
by requiring an unprecedented level of reporting to the federal
government. This outrageous idea is another reason to delay the housing
bailout legislation so that Senators and the public at large have time
to examine its full implications."

From the Senate 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes.  I will surely
learn a great deal today.

"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for
lunch.  Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the
decision."

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they
be properly armed." --Alexander Hamilton




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