IRS may look at business credit, debit card data

Business owners who take credit or debit cards, beware: Big Brother may start peeking at the data.

In an effort to encourage more accurate tax reporting, the IRS would have a chance to look at the revenue that businesses receive through their credit card merchant accounts, according to the Denver Business Journal. Both the House and Senate are considering pieces of legislation that have this new requirement. Congressional staff analysts peg the amount of additional revenue at $10 billion over 10 years.

"This proposal does not raise taxes on anyone," Sen. Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, told the paper. "These information reports would just cause people to file more accurate returns."

The language of the bills is different, so they would have to be reconciled before becoming law.

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 The 159th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance is up, hosted this week by Greener Pastures: Personal Finance, which was kind enough to make my blog item, Congressional testimony: Student credit card issuers under investigation, the top pick out of the 87 items in the carnival. I'm honored. Thanks.