Internet Security and Programming

The Bush administration is proposing a new tax collection program that would force credit card companies to report merchants’ income to the Internal Revenue Service. The plan has come under fire from privacy groups, who say it will create another private sector database tied to the Social Security numbers at a time when ID theft experts are urging companies to wean themselves from the use and collection of such information. The proposal is spelled out in the White House’s FY09 federal budget request for the U.S. Treasury, which the administration says includes some 16 changes to existing tax law designed to collect more than $36 billion in new revenues over 10 years. According to an analysis by the Center for Democracy & Technology, the proposal would require credit card companies to report the aggregate transactions of all businesses that have merchant accounts with the card issuers. The reports to [...]

Read more…