- Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis on Thursday released a legislative draft for a portion of his plan to fight IRS bloat following Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act
- The proposal details a process in which financial institutions in Florida would be required to report IRS probes quarterly and annually
- Data would be made available to lawmakers to help fight the alleged discrimination committed by IRS agents
State Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis on Thursday released an outline including legislative text as part of his IRS Protection Plan.
Patronis recently remarked that he would work to pass legislation for the upcoming session to fight back against the IRS, which is expected to grow by 87,000 personnel through an $80 billion appropriation of taxpayer money from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Additionally, the CFO said his office will create an IRS transparency site where members of the public can report potential discrimination and targeting activities by IRS agents.
The draft of the legislative text details a proposed requirement for every financial institution, subsidiary, or service corporation in the state.
Per the language, financial operatives must submit a quarterly report to the Florida Office of Financial Regulation reporting the number of probes sent by the IRS concerning Florida-domiciled account holders.
“Today, we released bill language that we will work with members of the Florida Legislature to pass, so that we can protect Florida’s small businesses,” said Patronis. “We know that the IRS targeted conservative groups in 2013, and we cannot let that happen in Florida. When it comes to public corruption, I have always felt that transparency is the best disinfectant.”
A clause in the text also suggests that a comprehensive annual report combining data from previous quarterly reports is to be delivered to the current Speaker of the House by the end of January of each calendar 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.”
Should Patronis’ proposals be adopted as its written by state lawmakers, Florida law would mandate that the state-chartered banks report all IRS activity to state agencies.
The information would be used by Floridians to assess how citizens of the state are being allegedly targeted by the IRS, and the reports would be made available to respective Congressional committees that provide oversight of the IRS.
Further, Florida could revoke the license of any IRS vendor that is found to discriminate against small businesses, non-profits, or private individuals.