WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — A commercial about Nancy Pelosi, which targets Maine Congressman Jared Golden, has caught the attention of NEWS CENTER Maine viewers. We've received several requests to Verify the claims made in the commercial.
The commercial, paid for by the American Action Network, says the following:
"First, Nancy Pelosi said she'd raise taxes. Now, she’s coming for what’s left.
To help pay for trillions in new spending, Pelosi wants the government to spy on nearly every American bank account, looking for new money to spend.
Your deposits, payments, bank balance ... under Pelosi’s plan, the government monitors them.
Call Jared Golden and tell him to stop Pelosi’s spending spree and keep the government out of your bank account."
To watch the commercial, click here.
THE QUESTION
Is there a "Pelosi plan" that would allow the government to monitor your "deposits, payments, and bank balances?"
THE SOURCES
- U.S. Department of the Treasury
- The White House
THE ANSWER
It's false that this plan would monitor your account balance and individual transactions. However, the plan would indeed require banks to report two additional data points: how much money went into the account over the year and how much came out.
WHAT WE FOUND
First, the proposed "Pelosi plan" being referred to is President Biden's American Families Plan. And yes, as part of that plan, banks would be required to give two additional pieces of information to the IRS: how much money went into certain bank accounts over the course of the year and how much came out. The financial reporting proposal does not include reporting on individual transactions of any amount.
As the plan stands, this would apply to accounts with $600 or more in them, but there is debate within the legislature to raise that threshold.
To read about the American Families Plan, click here.
The plan's aim is to crack down on tax fraud by keeping a closer eye on people making more than $400,000 and corporations. According to the Department of the Treasury, the goal is to track down around $700 billion in unpaid taxes over 10 years, which would ultimately help fund the Biden administration's social programs.
In a press release, the White House said, "The president’s proposal would change the game — by making sure the wealthiest Americans play by the same set of rules as all other Americans. It would require financial institutions to report information on account flows so that earnings from investments and business activity are subject to reporting more like wages already are. It would also increase investment in the IRS while ensuring that the additional resources go toward enforcement against those with the highest incomes, rather than Americans with actual income less than $400,000. Additional resources would focus on large corporations, businesses, and estates, and higher-income individuals."
In a press release from October, the Department of the Treasury defended the proposal, saying, "The only way to ensure that upper-income taxpayers pay what they owe is by giving the IRS the resources and information required to close the tax gap."
If you have a question you'd like NEWS CENTER Maine to Verify, email us at Verify@newscentermaine.com.