An Important Message

Dear Burke & Herbert Bank Customers:

We want to make you aware of a proposal currently being considered by Congress that, if enacted, would require banks to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) detailed information on inflows and outflows on nearly every customer account.

We would be required, for example, to capture and report detailed information about all deposits you make, funds that you transfer, payments you make and more, whether the activity has tax implications or not. This sweeping expansion of information reporting is aimed at raising revenue to help offset the cost of additional spending. While the stated intent is to help the IRS identify higher earners who do not fully report their tax liabilities, this overly broad proposal will impact almost every American and small business with an account at a financial institution.

We believe strongly that the proposed expanded tax reporting requirement is a gross over-reach by the federal government into your private matters, and endangers customer privacy and data security. The amount of sensitive financial data that banks would have to share with the IRS would be massive and risky, particularly given that the IRS is a constant target of cyber criminals. We do not believe that the IRS has the capability to utilize or protect the data effectively.

Additionally, the cost for the banking industry to comply with this massive transfer of data is enormous. The banking industry would have no choice but to pass these costs on to customers in the form of higher fees. As an industry, we strongly oppose this. As a consumer, I strongly oppose this.

Congress is expected to vote on this proposal soon.

I urge you to learn more about this proposal in the coming days. If you agree with us and oppose the proposal, we encourage you to contact your lawmakers at this link provided by the American Bankers Association: aba.social/ContactCongress.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
David P. Boyle
President & Chief Executive Officer