Perhaps no scarier line has ever been uttered than the title of this post. And if ObamaCare passes, there will be yet more fun for those of us in the tax profession.
Declan McCullagh is reporting that the new ObamaCare legislation contains language that may make you just a bit uneasy:
Section 431(a) of the bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and “other information as is prescribed by” regulation. That information will be provided to the new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs and used to determine who qualifies for “affordability credits.”
Section 245(b)(2)(A) says the IRS must divulge tax return details — there’s no specified limit on what’s available or unavailable — to the Health Choices Commissioner. The purpose, again, is to verify “affordability credits.”
Section 1801(a) says that the Social Security Administration can obtain tax return data on anyone who may be eligible for a “low-income prescription drug subsidy” but has not applied for it.
This language, if adopted in the final bill, would mean that it would be incredibly easy for individuals who shouldn’t have access to our tax returns to have access to them. I guess the Democrats in Congress don’t like the idea of privacy.
This is yet another reason that I’m not in favor of ObamaCare.