Gray Rohrer
Florida banks and financial institutions would be required to report to the state all inquiries made to them by the IRS, under a draft bill released by Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis.
The Republican had previously said he would develop legislation to counteract the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents, part of the new Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in August.
“We know that the IRS targeted conservative groups in 2013, and we cannot let that happen in Florida,” Patronis said in a released statement. “When it comes to public corruption, I have always felt that transparency is the best disinfectant. That’s why our first proposal creates a system where Florida’s state-chartered banks will report IRS activities to understand the severity and frequency of federal agents accessing Florida’s banking information.”
The draft bill is a proposal from Patronis and hasn’t been filed by any lawmaker. If it is filed, lawmakers will likely consider it during the 2023 Legislative Session, which starts March 7.
It would require banks to submit reports each quarter to the Office of Financial Regulation detailing the number of “inquiries, requests, summons, subpoenas or other requests for information or records received” from the IRS. The OFR would then compile a report of the data to present to lawmakers, the Governor and the Cabinet by Jan. 30 each year.
“This information will help us better understand where the IRS may be targeting Floridians, so we can fight back against potential discrimination,” Patronis said. “Moreover, we will make this information available to the appropriate committees in Washington that provide oversight of the IRS.”
Other parts of Patronis’ plan, which aren’t in the draft bill, include withdrawing the licenses of debt collectors who serve the Florida Department of Revenue if they also are found to have worked for the IRS to “discriminate against small businesses, non-profits or private individuals.”
Patronis also wants to set up a fund to help small business owners resist audits or investigations by the IRS and create a civil penalty against IRS agents who target conservative groups.
The hiring of additional IRS agents and staff is designed to improve response times and tax enforcement. The White House said the bill will help raise revenue by “going after tax dodgers, ensuring the wealthy and large corporations pay the taxes they already owe.”
16 comments
Joe Corsen
September 1, 2022 at 1:16 pm
IRS targeted conservative groups because they have the biggest concentration of tax cheats and grifters. Kinda like the Mafia complaining about being targeted because they are the Mafia. Like wtf is that??? Just because you are “conservative” doesn’t make you immune to the law. Just like because Trump calls himself conservative doesn’t mean he can commit all the cheating and crime that he wants.
PeterH
September 1, 2022 at 1:33 pm
Again this is DeSantis political grandstanding. The hiring compensates for the 50,000 IRS agents who have retired or about to retire.
If you are reporting your income in a timely fashion and are not committing fraud you have nothing to worry about.
Since Florida has no State income tax the State has absolutely no standing in individuals paying or not payingtheir federal taxes. This maneuver is an invasion of banking privacy and I smell another taxpayer funded DeSantis lawsuit added to his extensive legal losses.
Hope
September 1, 2022 at 1:46 pm
Thank you Governor DeSantis and Jimmy Patronis for getting out in front and protecting us from the overreach of the Brandon Administration’s nonsense.
Sorry, Charlie this just isn’t your year. I hear Hunter Biden will be hiring an attorney soon. One door closes another opens…
Top Guns DeSantis & Patronis for the win!
Bill
September 1, 2022 at 2:20 pm
By ‘us’ you mean who exactly? I don’t cheat on my taxes so I don’t need protection. I assume you conservatives do though so good luck with not ripping the rest of us off anymore.
Charlie Crist
September 1, 2022 at 7:42 pm
@”Hope”: Yeah they need one IRS agent for every conservative Republican in the USA. This is how crooked and criminal you people have become.
Mr. Haney
September 2, 2022 at 8:49 am
Another clueless individual brainwashed by Fox Propaganda.
Hope
September 1, 2022 at 2:40 pm
@ Bill,
DeSantis does not discriminate protecting Democrats and Republicans; he protects ALL OF US. I know it’s a foreign concept to you, however.
Charlie Crist
September 1, 2022 at 3:06 pm
That’s my campaign line that you’ve appropriated. “Florida for all.” I’ll contact FP and tell them if this intellectual property theft. You conservatives are on quite a crime spree. Don’t know right from wrong anymore!!!
Bill
September 2, 2022 at 8:07 am
@Hope
What is he protecting us from exactly? The IRS is grossly understaffed and in desperate need of a technology upgrade.
From my point of view, he seems to spend a lot of time meddling in people’s business with his culture war nonsense and does very little else. Maybe if he focused on affordable housing, insurance, FPL jacking up prices (25% in my case) in the hottest month of the year etc. etc. So yes, it is a foreign concept to me. Whatever good he may have done is drowned out by all the other nonsense unfortunately.
Mr. Haney
September 2, 2022 at 8:50 am
DeSantis isn’t protecting anyone you poor ignorant rube.
tom palmer
September 1, 2022 at 2:47 pm
For the record, what the IRS did was to question the tax-exempt status of organizations that were engaging in activities tax-exempt organizations are not allowed to do. They snagged some liberal groups, too.
Tjb
September 1, 2022 at 4:22 pm
Tom, you are correct, the IRS audited both liberal and conservative group. I find it interesting that so many Republicans are freaking out with the addition of 87,000 IRS employees in the next ten years. Approximately 75% of these new folks will be replacing IRS employees that will be retiring or leaving the agency.
The outcry from the Republicans make me wonder if they are cheating honest American tax payers by not paying their share of taxes.
MH/Duval
September 2, 2022 at 7:48 am
“Congressional House Democrats are asking the IRS to review the tax-exempt status of a prominent conservative advocacy group recently reclassified as a church, arguing the organization may be exploiting the designation to avoid scrutiny.
“According to a recent report from ProPublica, the FRC successfully applied to be reclassified as a “group of churches” in 2020.
“Lawmakers say that while the FRC often appeals to faith and advocates for a “biblical worldview,” the status change “strains credulity” because the group operates primarily as “a political advocacy organization.”
“They do not hold religious services, do not have a congregation or affiliated congregations, and do not possess many of the other attributes of churches listed by the IRS,” the letter reads. “FRC is one example of an alarming pattern in the last decade — right-wing advocacy groups self-identifying as ‘churches’ and applying for and receiving church status.” (WaPo, /aug. 2, 2022)
What FRC — aka Tony Perkins — has is a $1+ billion bequest from a deceased donor that was not subject to inheritance tax. (ProPublica has the goods.)
Edward Harrison
September 2, 2022 at 5:32 am
Just another way for Governor DeSantis and Jimmy Patronis to protect rich tax cheats. It is a bunch of BS anyway. If they really wanted to protect people they would expand Medicaid or make sure the business information they publish on Sunbiz is correct so people don’t get their businesses stolen, or fix our worst-in-the-nation unemployment system, or… Instead, they just grandstand and attack the most vulnerable Floridians.
Matthew Lusk
September 2, 2022 at 3:40 pm
There is absolutely no need for the IRS’ personal income tax. Congress can monetize treasury dollars. They are already monetizing treasury notes and bills for most of the budget. Screw the private banking cartel! Why give them trillions of dollars of free credit just to run their scam system? The scam is simple, it’s called counterfeiting credit. It costs the working class trillions in labor hour credits. If I ever make it on the ballot, please vote for me so I can drain the swamp.
Terry
September 2, 2022 at 5:05 pm
There you go again Jimmy., trying to make people believe that you have some responsibility for banking in Florida. You know you don’t. Florida law defines the Financial Services Commission to be made up of the Gov, CFO, AG and the Ag Commish. Their only responsibility is to hire the heads of OFR and OIR and approve their rule promulgations. That’s it. Both agencies operate independently of any political influence (supposedly). The CFO’s agency, Department of Financial Services, provides administrative support in the form of personnel and technology. Decades ago banking deposits were almost evenly divided between state and nationally chartered banks. Today, state banks probably have less than 10% of the deposits. Imagine the thrill when the state banks find out that they have one more useless regulatory report to make that their national counterparts will not. Patronis has never had an original thought in his life that didn’t come out of the DeSantis playbook. He is just a lap dog.
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