All credit card transactions will now be reported to the IRS.

[Revenant]

http://news.goldseek.com/RonPaul/1216926862.php

 

My response is simply: What the hell?

 

So now everytime one of us uses a credit card to purchase a coin the IRS gets to know about it? Every time we do anything with a credit card the IRS makes it their business? This is !

[physics-fan3.14]

Big brother does not need to know all my credit card transactions. We really need to tell the government where to shove it.

[Revenant]

Well, with luck either the Senate will say no or Bush will have the balls to veto it and it'll hold up.

[BillJones]

Get ready.

 

There is going to be a lot more of this after the election. Big, even more expensive government is going to be norm.

[MarkFeld]

At the present time, the thread title sounds premature/misleading.

[Revenant]

At the present time, the thread title sounds premature/misleading.

 

It passed the house with a strong majority. It's a 600+ page bill with the really bad parts hidden deep inside. Call me a pessimist. The present congress will rubber stamp just about everything.

[MarkFeld]

At the present time, the thread title sounds premature/misleading.

 

It passed the house with a strong majority. It's a 600+ page bill with the really bad parts hidden deep inside. Call me a pessimist. The present congress will rubber stamp just about everything.

As per your request: You're a pessimist And presently, the thread title is still premature/misleading.

[ctrl-migration]

That provision (austensibly to 'close the tax revenue gap' from businesses) has been talked about for well over a year. And it's aggregated information, not individual transactions, as stated in the bill.

[physics-fan3.14]

I heard on the radio that Bush planned on signing it once it passed even though he disliked sections of it. The problem is, they bury things like this in a bill that has some parts that are considered important, so to veto it would be highly unpopular.

[jason888]

What`s a credit card?

[Oldtrader3]

Read the Housing Bill, the reporting measure is for small businesses, not individuals unless you are a Power Seller on Ebay, and has not been approved by the Senate yet. These things have a habit of disappearing on the Senate version of these bills before they are approved and go to the President for signature. I would not have a heart attack quite yet.

 

These types of things have been in spending bills for years but never make it into the final bill which is passed by the Senate. The House has a habit of slipping in these things that later disappear because the Senate will not allow this sort of nonsense to get passed. If you want to have a weekly heart attack, read all the unresolved spending bills that are passed by the House and you will be paranoid forever.

[michael]

 

These types of things have been in spending bills for years but never make it into the final bill which is passed by the Senate. The House has a habit of slipping in these things that later disappear because the Senate will not allow this sort of nonsense to get passed. If you want to have a weekly heart attack, read all the unresolved spending bills that are passed by the House and you will be paranoid forever.

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u

[rrantique]

 

These types of things have been in spending bills for years but never make it into the final bill which is passed by the Senate. The House has a habit of slipping in these things that later disappear because the Senate will not allow this sort of nonsense to get passed. If you want to have a weekly heart attack, read all the unresolved spending bills that are passed by the House and you will be paranoid forever.

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u

 

(thumbs u

[DC Dawg]

At the present time, the thread title sounds premature/misleading.

Mark... you are right to be skeptical. It took me a while (the damned news only gives drips and drabs of the truth), but I found the bill. The bill is H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The part of the legislation is under Division C (Tax-Related Provisions), Title III (Revenue Provisions), Subtitle B (Revenue Offsets). If you want to find it, go to this page, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, and click on the link for Subtitle B.

 

For that subtitle, under Section 6050W, describes a provision that allows the federal government to collect all "payment card" transaction (this means debit cards, too) in which the transaction requires the clearance of a "third party payment network." Visa and MasterCard networks and the associated clearing would qualify as a third party payment network. So would PayPal!

 

However, if you scroll down to paragraph (e), Exception for De Minimis Payments by Third Party Settlement Organizations, there is an interesting provision to exempt transaction(s) under $20,000 (both single and in the aggregate) or when the total number of transactions are less than 200. The way this looks, if you buy 150 items for under $5,000 per year from eBay using PayPal, then your transaction (theoretically) would not be reported.

 

The term De Minimis is Latin for "minimal things." In legal parlance it means that they are not interested in trivial matters--or in this case, trivial transactions.

 

Although the bill does not say which agency would get the information, the paragraph at the end of that subsection ((g)(e)(2)(B)) allows the taxpayer identification (TIN) to be cross matched under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 3406(i). Under IRC 3406, only the IRS can do the TIN matching and can provide it to another government agency only by court order. Unless the law was changed when congress renewed the FISA program a couple of months ago, 3406 requires a FISA subpoena before releasing the information.

 

This is the second go around for this bill. There are differences between the one enrolled by the House and the version by the Senate. For example, the TIN matching provision was added in the House and does not appear in the version enrolled by the Senate. While this appears to be a trivial difference, there may be others that have to be resolved.

 

If you want to call your Senator to tell him/her that you are against this, either visit their website through the Senate's main website and contact them directly, or call the Capital Switchboard at (202)224-3121. Tell your Senator that you are vehemently (or insert your own adverb) against Section 6050W in H.R.3221, Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, where the government would be collecting credit card transaction with Social Security Numbers without reason. I am sure the staffs of Senators Cardin and Mikulski will be happy to hear from me again, as I am a regular caller and correspondent!

 

Scott

[ctrl-migration]

It's the *businesses* that report the transaction data if *they receive* over the minimum, and the Taxpayer Identification is that of the business. If you purchase something for $5k with a credit card, by this bill, none of *your* information goes anywhere.

 

Allegedly.

[DC Dawg]

It's the *businesses* that report the transaction data if *they receive* over the minimum, and the Taxpayer Identification is that of the business. If you purchase something for $5k with a credit card, by this bill, none of *your* information goes anywhere.

 

Allegedly.

I read the bill... see the links above. Your information is not correct.

 

The bill does not single out who the makes the transaction. It's all transaction that makes the limits I outlined above.

 

Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is a generic term that describes your index into the IRS Master File. The TIN is either your Social Security Number or the Employer Identification Number that a business obtains from the IRS when they become active (not every business is incorporated).

 

If you purchase something for $5K with your credit card, and if you spend $15K more or have another 199 transaction, then your transaction will be reported to government. That will be the law if this passes the Senate.

 

Please... don't believe everything you hear from the press. When it comes to reading bills and trying to report on them, those working in the media is woefully lacking in the ability to understand what they are reading. They take a sound bite from someone like Ron Paul, who will spin his statements to suit his political agenda, and butcher that--think of the game "Telephone." This is why I went to read the bill--I wanted to see what it really says. In this case, it appears Rep. Paul did not spin this information.

 

Should you trust me? That's up to you. But rather than spinning the information, I gave you the ability to check my statements by showing you where I found the information. You are free to validate what I say.

 

Scott

[ctrl-migration]

I read the bill as well, that's where I drew my conclusion from. It is aggregated information regarding how much the third-party company, VISA/MasterCard/PayPal/etc PAID to a merchant/individual with a TIN.

 

Not saying it's a good thing or that it will work the way it is supposed to...but it's not seeking to send individual consumer information to the IRS.

[just-john]

Nobody made a stink about it when they took away the deduction away for credit card

interest were turning into a nation of sheep where the next president will be elected by people who can't speak English and another third can't read end of rant

[Oldtrader3]

Like Will Rogers said, just think how bad this country would be like if our elected members of Congress actually did their jobs

[DC Dawg]

The Senate passed the House's final version of the bill with a veto-proof majority of 72-13, with 15 not voting, including Senators McCain and Obama. Once the president signs the bill, as he is expected to, it will become law.

 

If you want to see how your senator voted, check out this page. I guess Senators Cardin and Mikulski will be hearing from me again.

 

Scott

[Revenant]

The Senate passed the House's final version of the bill with a veto-proof majority of 72-13, with 15 not voting, including Senators McCain and Obama. Once the president signs the bill, as he is expected to, it will become law.

 

If you want to see how your senator voted, check out this page. I guess Senators Cardin and Mikulski will be hearing from me again.

 

Scott

 

SEE! It's not paranoia if they really are that stupid!

[Oldtrader3]

I would like to see the final Senate version of the bill before I get too worried. Generally the Senate and House versions of these spending bills are somewhat different in wording. Additionally, McCain keeps shooting himself in the foot every few days and he is going to lose this presidential election if he does not decide who he is and what he stands for, soon.

[DC Dawg]

umm... OT3... Read what I said... The senate passed the House's final version. It's over. No more debate. The next stop is the President's desk!

 

Scott