House GOP campaign arm releases ad hitting Democrats on IRS bank-reporting proposal

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) rolled out a critical ad campaign targeting vulnerable House Democrats over their party’s proposal to increase the amount of information the IRS receives about banking transactions. 

The 19-second Halloween-themed ad accuses Democrats of “hiring an army of IRS agents to spy on your bank account.”

The campaign targets 15 House Democrats: Reps. Stephanie Murphy (Fla.), Tom O’Halleran (Ariz.), Katie Porter (Calif.), Jahana Hayes (Conn.), Cindy Axne (Iowa), Marie Newman (Ill.), Jared Golden (Maine), Dan Kildee (Mich.), Chris Pappas (N.H.), Andy Kim (N.J.), Tom Malinowski (N.J.), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.), Antonio Delgado (N.Y.), Susan Wild (Penn.), and Kim Schrier (Wash.). 

The NRCC noted that its internal polling found that 57 percent of voters said they would be less likely to support a Democrat who backed the proposal. 

The proposal would require banks to report to the IRS the total amount of money that came in and out of an account during a given year. The IRS would not receive information about specific transactions. Democrats and Biden administration officials argue that the proposal would help the IRS enforce tax laws against wealthy tax cheats. 

The Biden administration originally called for the reporting requirement to apply to accounts with more than $600 in deposits and withdrawals in a year. Last week, congressional Democrats narrowed the scope of the proposal, raising the threshold to $10,000 and excluding wage income from that amount.

However, recent criticisms from Democrats indicate that the proposal may not make it in the final bill. Some Democrats in the House and the Senate, including Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (Va.), have expressed concerns over how Americans’ privacy would be impacted by the proposal. 

The ad comes after the NRCC released new internal polling on Tuesday showing Republicans on track to retake the House in 2022. Republicans have a 43 percent to 40 percent lead over Democrats with registered voters in the generic ballot across 85 potential battleground districts, according to the poll.

Updated at 11:43 a.m.