在财政部和参议院民主党人提出一项有争议的提案，要求直接收集美国人银行账户的额外数据后，由南卡罗来纳州的蒂姆·斯科特领导的参议院共和党人提出了一项清单周四阻止国内税收署实施任何此类政策变化。

斯科特在一份专门提供给美国广播公司新闻的声明中说:“民主党允许国税局监视这个国家几乎每个人的银行账户的计划，即使是那些生活在贫困线以下的人，也应该引起任何重视隐私和经济包容性的人的深切关注。”。

拜登政府周二退让在共和党议员和银行业代表的广泛批评后，一项有争议的提议将指示国税局收集每一个年度交易超过600美元的银行账户的额外数据，他们表示，税收执法战略代表着联邦政府侵犯隐私。

取而代之的是，政府和参议院民主党人提议提高年收入超过10，000美元的账户的门槛，以及任何通过工资获得的收入赋税被自动扣除的将不受申报的限制。失业和社会保障等联邦福利的领取者也将被豁免。

根据新共和党法案被称为《禁止国税局金融监督法案》，“美国财政部长(包括部长的任何代表)不得要求任何金融机构报告该机构持有的任何账户的流入或流出情况，或任何此类账户的任何余额、交易、转账或类似信息，除非在该法案颁布之日有效的任何计划或其他法律规定要求此类报告。”

爱达荷州参议员迈克·克拉波(Mike Crapo)在一份声明中说:“每个美国人都应该警惕给国税局更多的权力和更多的触角进入私人金融交易。“国税局的银行报告提案是我们见过的该机构权限的最大扩张之一，而且存在根本缺陷。我很自豪地支持斯科特参议员的立法，阻止这项提案的进行，并保护美国人的个人、私人金融信息。"

共和党的法案是由共和党领导层的每一位成员和几乎整个会议发起的，据一位知情人士透露，这清楚地表明，该党认为“这一举措和领导层的一致支持……清楚地表明了我们将把精力集中在即将到来的和解斗争中的什么地方。”

他们说，民主党人做出的改变——这清楚地表明了这个问题在政治上有多不稳定——将使数百万美国人免于申报要求，并帮助国税局锁定更富裕的美国人，特别是那些从投资、房地产和其他国税局更难追踪的交易中赚钱的人。

“在目前的制度下，美国工人几乎支付了所有的税款，而许多高收入者通过利用这一制度避免支付他们欠下的数十亿美元的税款。问题的核心是向国税局报告收入类型的方式存在差异:不透明的收入来源经常逃避审查，而工资和联邦福利通常几乎完全合规。这种两级税制是不公平的，剥夺了国家资助核心优先事项的资源，”财政部长珍妮特·耶伦周二在一份声明中表示。

耶伦说:“今天的新提议反映了政府的坚定信念，即我们应该瞄准那些收入最高的人，他们没有缴纳他们欠下的税款，同时通过将银行账户门槛设置为1万美元，并为教师和消防员等工薪阶层提供豁免来保护美国工人。

财政部的一份情况表说，“想象一下，一个纳税人报告了10，000美元的收入;但是有1000万美元的资金流入流出他们的银行账户。当高收入人群少报收入(和少交税款)时，拥有这些汇总信息将有助于向国税局报警。这将有助于国税局将其执法活动的目标锁定在那些实际上逃避纳税义务的人身上，从而减少对绝大多数纳税者的高成本、高负担的审计。”

该提案离颁布还有很长的路要走。它目前被纳入数万亿美元的社会支出计划，立法者和白宫已经谈判了几个月。如果该方案获得通过并签署成为法律，该要求要到2022年12月才能开始实施。

参议院财政委员会主席罗恩·怀登·多雷。率先努力修改该提案的共和党人反驳了共和党人的说法，即其目标是窥探美国人的金融交易。

“底线是，富有的税务骗子每年从美国人民身上榨取数十亿美元。当适用于税务欺诈的报告规则松散且模糊不清时，税务欺诈就会猖獗。民主党人希望修复这种破碎的方法，并打击高层的欺骗行为，”怀登在周二宣布这一消息的新闻发布会上说。

怀登明确表示，即使是购买金额超过10，000美元的美国人也不会受到额外报告的影响。

“如果你的工资、社会保障收入或类似收入没有超出1万美元，就没有额外的报告。我们还讨论了一个场景，其中一个人花了大量的积蓄进行一次大采购。在这种情况下不会有额外的报告，只要进入账户的金额不超过工资+1万美元，”怀登说。

尽管如此，共和党人坚称数百万美国人将受到影响，并表示担心国税局将被赋予太多权力。

“拜登政府允许国税局监控美国人银行账户的计划是一个危险的想法，随着时间的推移，这种想法只会越来越糟糕，”共和党参议员帕特·图米说今天政府想知道你的年度账户流入和流出。他们明天会要求什么?"

GOP senator seeks to block controversial proposed bank account monitoring

In the wake of a controversial proposal by the Treasury Department and Senate Democrats to direct collection of additional data on Americans' bank accounts, Senate Republicans -- led by South Carolina’s Tim Scott -- introduced abillThursday to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from implementing any such policy change.

"The Democrats’ plan to allow the IRS to spy on the bank accounts of nearly every person in this country, even those below the poverty line, should be deeply concerning to anyone who values privacy and economic inclusion," Scott said in a statement provided exclusively to ABC News.

The Biden administration on Tuesdaybacked downon a controversial proposal that would have directed the IRS to collect additional data on every bank account that sees more than $600 in annual transactions, after widespread criticism from Republican lawmakers and banking industry representatives, who said the tax enforcement strategy represented a breach of privacy by the federal government.

Instead, the administration and Senate Democrats are proposing to raise the threshold to accounts with more than $10,000 in annual transactions, and any income received through a paycheck from which federaltaxesare automatically deducted will not be subject to the reporting. Recipients of federal benefits like unemployment and Social Security would also be exempt.

According to thenew GOP bill, called the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act, "The Secretary of the Treasury (including any delegate of the Secretary) may not require any financial institution to report the inflows or outflows of any account maintained by such institution, or any balances, transactions, transfers, or similar information with respect to any such account, except to the extent that such reporting is required under any program, or other provision of law, as in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act."

"Every American should be wary of giving the IRS more power and more tentacles into private financial transactions," Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a statement. "The IRS bank reporting proposal is one of the biggest expansions of the agency’s authority we’ve ever seen, and is fundamentally flawed. I’m proud to support Senator Scott’s legislation to stop this proposal in its tracks and protect Americans’ personal, private financial information."

The GOP bill is sponsored by every member of Republican leadership and nearly the entire conference, a clear indication, according to a source familiar with the matter, that the party sees "this move and the unified support from leadership … as a clear indication of where we’ll focus our energies in the coming reconciliation fight."

Andrew Harnik/AP

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters following a Democratic strat...

The changes made by Democrats -- a clear indication of how politically volatile the issue is -- would exempt millions of Americans from the reporting requirement, and help the IRS target wealthier Americans, they say, especially those who earn money from investments, real estate, and other transactions that are more difficult for the IRS to track.

"Under the current system, American workers pay virtually all their tax bills while many top earners avoid paying billions in the taxes they owe by exploiting the system. At the core of the problem is a discrepancy in the ways types of income are reported to the IRS: opaque income sources frequently avoid scrutiny while wages and federal benefits are typically subject to nearly full compliance. This two-tiered tax system is unfair and deprives the country of resources to fund core priorities," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement Tuesday.

"Today’s new proposal reflects the Administration’s strong belief that we should zero in on those at the top of the income scale who don’t pay the taxes they owe, while protecting American workers by setting the bank account threshold at $10,000 and providing an exemption for wage earners like teachers and firefighters," Yellen said.

A Treasury fact sheet says, "Imagine a taxpayer who reports $10,000 of income; but has $10 million of flows in and out of their bank account. Having this summary information will help flag for the IRS when high-income people under-report their income (and under-pay their tax obligations). This will help the IRS target its enforcement activities on those who are actually evading their tax obligations—decreasing costly and burdensome audits for the vast majority of taxpayers who pay what they owe."

The proposal is a long way from being enacted. It's currently included in a multi-trillion dollar social spending package lawmakers and the White House have been negotiating for months. If that package is passed and signed into law, the requirement wouldn't begin until December 2022.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who spearheaded the effort to revise the proposal, disputed Republican claims that the goal is to snoop on Americans' financial transactions.

"The bottom line is, wealthy tax cheats are ripping off the American people to the tune of billions and billions of dollars per year. Tax cheats thrive when the reporting rules that apply to them are loose and murky. Democrats want to fix this broken approach and crack down on the cheating at the top," Wyden said in a press conference on the announcement Tuesday.

Wyden made clear that even Americans who might make a large purchase over $10,000 wouldn't be subject to the additional reporting.

"If you don’t have $10,000 above your paycheck, Social Security income, or the like coming in or going out, there’s no additional reporting. We’ve also addressed the scenario where an individual spends a significant amount of savings for a major purchase. There will be no additional reporting in this scenario, as long as the amount of money coming into the account does not exceed wages +$10,000," Wyden said.

Still, Republicans insisted millions of Americans will be affected and voiced concern that the IRS would be given far too much power.

"The Biden administration’s plan to allow the IRS to monitor Americans' bank accounts is a dangerous idea that will only prove to be worse over time,” said Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa. “Today the administration wants to know your annual account inflows and outflows. What will they demand access to tomorrow?"