Nosy banks

Dennis Fisher5 said:It honestly feels like the days of banking privacy are long gone, interest rates on savings accounts aren't worth the paper they're printed on, while loan rates have just skyrocketed, and it seems like Uncle Sam wants a cut of absolutely everything you touch, so I really struggle to see any logical reason to keep my money sitting in a bank account right now.

And that is not even touching upon the massive headaches currently facing major European financial institutions like Deutsche Bank or UniCredit.

Is this on the banks, or is it the government passing laws like this?

Quentin:

savings interest is non-existent

Interest rates are what they are, and honestly, they’re just gonna keep dropping (look at Scandinavia or Switzerland—they’re already dealing with zero or even negative rates)... but that’s all dictated by the Federal Reserve and the general money market across the EU

Quentin:

loan interest is insane

Loan rates are actually at their lowest levels since the old Soviet Union days...

Man, you're just talking nonsense just to hear yourself talk...😬

Quentin:

everything is being taxed

,

We're looping again... Is it the banks' fault, or the government passing the laws the banks have to follow? Even in Switzerland, which everyone acts like is some secret paradise, banking secrecy isn't really a thing anymore

Quentin:

I don't see any reason to keep money in a bank.

I don't think you can even see what's right in front of you, judging by these comments...😬

ruggedfox28 said:Is this on the banks, or is it the government passing laws like this?

Quentin:

savings interest is non-existent

Interest rates are what they are, and honestly, they’re just gonna keep dropping (look at Scandinavia or Switzerland—they’re already dealing with zero or even negative rates)... but that’s all dictated by the Federal Reserve and the general money market across the EU

Quentin:

loan interest is insane

Loan rates are actually at their lowest levels since the old Soviet Union days...

Man, you're just talking nonsense just to hear yourself talk...😬

Quentin:

everything is being taxed

,

We're looping again... Is it the banks' fault, or the government passing the laws the banks have to follow? Even in Switzerland, which everyone acts like is some secret paradise, banking secrecy isn't really a thing anymore

Quentin:

I don't see any reason to keep money in a bank.

I don't think you can even see what's right in front of you, judging by these comments...😬

Wow, you're just a real genius, aren't you?😍

ruggedfox28 said:Is this on the banks, or is it the government passing laws like this?

Quentin:

savings interest is non-existent

Interest rates are what they are, and honestly, they’re just gonna keep dropping (look at Scandinavia or Switzerland—they’re already dealing with zero or even negative rates)... but that’s all dictated by the Federal Reserve and the general money market across the EU

Quentin:

loan interest is insane

Loan rates are actually at their lowest levels since the old Soviet Union days...

Man, you're just talking nonsense just to hear yourself talk...😬

Quentin:

everything is being taxed

,

We're looping again... Is it the banks' fault, or the government passing the laws the banks have to follow? Even in Switzerland, which everyone acts like is some secret paradise, banking secrecy isn't really a thing anymore

Quentin:

I don't see any reason to keep money in a bank.

I don't think you can even see what's right in front of you, judging by these comments...😬

and if you want to know what I meant by that, I was merely stating the current reality facing these institutions, specifically how the Federal Reserve essentially crushed the banking business model through low interest rates just to bail out the country

wiredlynx28 said:The IRS has the authority to audit any transaction account belonging to an individual or a corporation.
As long as your money is earned legally, there’s really nothing to worry about.

I mean, saying they "have the right to access" is such a massive, vague umbrella term.

It covers all those vague little phrases like, "Well, they have the authority if they happen to be running some kind of investigation or whatever."
But we all know that, up until now, they haven't just been allowed to snoop through active checking accounts for no reason at all.

So, I guess there’s a huge, massive difference between "the IRS has the right to look" (though, wait, right to look at what exactly?) and just "handing them everything on autopilot."

-Steve

wiredlynx28 said:The IRS has the authority to audit any transaction account belonging to an individual or a corporation.
As long as your money is earned legally, there’s really nothing to worry about.

But why bother, if everything is already transparent through the standard tax filings?

Laura Chavez93 said:But why bother, if everything is already transparent through the standard tax filings?

What does a Joppd form have to do with actual account activity?

@Look, there’s zero debate left: we’ve officially landed the absolute worst Government in the history of this country, at least if you look at their first economic moves and that total train wreck of a tax reform.

They hit us with a tax on first-time homebuyers that basically screwed over every young family in America trying to get a foot in the door, then they slapped those extra "contributions" on freelance contracts—so now every artist, translator, journalist, editor, and gig worker is getting robbed of an extra 20% of their paycheck just for existing. Not to mention setting up mandatory monitoring on every single transaction in our checking accounts, acting like some kind of Big Brother surveillance state, plus hiking the sales tax on restaurants, which is a direct gut punch to the entire hospitality industry... all of this is just a tiny taste of what this new Government is up to. It’s pretty obvious their one and only goal is squeezing every last cent out of Americans until we’re all broke.

briskjackal5 said:I mean, saying they "have the right to access" is such a massive, vague umbrella term.

It covers all those vague little phrases like, "Well, they have the authority if they happen to be running some kind of investigation or whatever."
But we all know that, up until now, they haven't just been allowed to snoop through active checking accounts for no reason at all.

So, I guess there’s a huge, massive difference between "the IRS has the right to look" (though, wait, right to look at what exactly?) and just "handing them everything on autopilot."

-Steve

Exactly, it’s a very broad term.
Take a look at a mandatory form, for instance. It asks which income bracket you fall into based on salary—up to $X amount, up to $Y amount, etc. Then it asks for your annual turnover in your checking account and so on. Based solely on those data points, if your business doesn't match the marked amounts, JPMorgan Chase sees that something is off. For example, if your total checking account turnover exceeds the declared limit and you have deposits that don't align with your salary, it’s obvious you have other income sources, and that gets reported to the IRS automatically. Then they come knocking, asking you to document the source of funds and all that jazz.
Basically, there's no cause for concern as long as you can prove where the money came from, regardless of the amount.
The bank is simply following orders from the Government.

wiredlynx28 said:Exactly, it’s a very broad term.
Take a look at a mandatory form, for instance. It asks which income bracket you fall into based on salary—up to $X amount, up to $Y amount, etc. Then it asks for your annual turnover in your checking account and so on. Based solely on those data points, if your business doesn't match the marked amounts, JPMorgan Chase sees that something is off. For example, if your total checking account turnover exceeds the declared limit and you have deposits that don't align with your salary, it’s obvious you have other income sources, and that gets reported to the IRS automatically. Then they come knocking, asking you to document the source of funds and all that jazz.
Basically, there's no cause for concern as long as you can prove where the money came from, regardless of the amount.
The bank is simply following orders from the Government.

Basically, banks are just petty bureaucrats losing clients for absolutely no reason.
Is a bank supposed to be a detective agency or a financial institution?
"Following orders from the Government?" Lol.

wiredlynx28 said:Exactly, it’s a very broad term.
Take a look at a mandatory form, for instance. It asks which income bracket you fall into based on salary—up to $X amount, up to $Y amount, etc. Then it asks for your annual turnover in your checking account and so on. Based solely on those data points, if your business doesn't match the marked amounts, JPMorgan Chase sees that something is off. For example, if your total checking account turnover exceeds the declared limit and you have deposits that don't align with your salary, it’s obvious you have other income sources, and that gets reported to the IRS automatically. Then they come knocking, asking you to document the source of funds and all that jazz.
Basically, there's no cause for concern as long as you can prove where the money came from, regardless of the amount.
The bank is simply following orders from the Government.

There's definitely a catch, because you still have to defend yourself even when you haven't done anything wrong. Plus, a checking account isn't just for your paycheck—that's why it's called a checking account. What if I withdrew my salary from an ATM, realized I didn't actually need it, and then deposited it right back into my account? If I did that three times a month, my "deposits" would look three times larger than my actual salary...

Ever deal with those aunts or old family friends who’ve been hoarding cash their entire lives and suddenly want to nickel-and-diming you over every little thing? It’s that dynamic where they shove money at you—not because you actually earned it, but just so they can manipulate the situation to their advantage. I see it all the time. You could make a decent chunk of change just on small-time side hustles, yet the real issue is how they go after the poor guy just trying to scrape together an extra few bucks to get by. Meanwhile, the people moving massive amounts of money—people flying out to Monaco with stacks of cash every few months—they seem to walk away scot-free.

Honestly, who knows what kind of schemes are being used to hide wealth, whether it was gained illegally or just to dodge insane taxes? The people with actual assets know exactly which loopholes to use, and the authorities know exactly who to target. It always ends up being the little guy just trying to survive until payday, and that’s what gets to me. Not to mention the total death of privacy. Say you enjoy hosting friends and regularly pick up some booze to keep them happy; based on your transaction history, the government will eventually flag you and start restricting your life because they’ve labeled you a heavy drinker.

@ Uranija

JPMorgan Chase isn't the one pulling the strings here. If you’re unhappy with the laws passed by the USA, take it up with the government. You really think a bank cares about your grievances?

@Charles Ramos7

The IRS handles those matters, not the bank.

wiredlynx28 said:@ Uranija

JPMorgan Chase isn't the one pulling the strings here. If you’re unhappy with the laws passed by the USA, take it up with the government. You really think a bank cares about your grievances?

@Charles Ramos7

The IRS handles those matters, not the bank.

I think the bank should be the one looking into this, since they see every single transaction. If I pay myself and then transfer that same amount back to myself, that’s clearly movement of funds $0.00that the bank should be reporting directly to the IRS.

wiredlynx28 said:@ Uranija

JPMorgan Chase isn't the one pulling the strings here. If you’re unhappy with the laws passed by the USA, take it up with the government. You really think a bank cares about your grievances?

@Charles Ramos7

The IRS handles those matters, not the bank.

One has to make a choice☕ if the IRS already possesses all the data and full access—why then would they bother requesting citizen information from banks in the first place?

Charles Ramos7 said:There's definitely a catch, because you still have to defend yourself even when you haven't done anything wrong. Plus, a checking account isn't just for your paycheck—that's why it's called a checking account. What if I withdrew my salary from an ATM, realized I didn't actually need it, and then deposited it right back into my account? If I did that three times a month, my "deposits" would look three times larger than my actual salary...

exactly, you’re stuck in this position where you have to justify everything, and it all comes down to whether some IRS agent decides to believe your story or just labels it extra income and hits you with taxes plus penalties.
my checking account is full of transactions that have absolutely nothing to do with my income, usually just small amounts of a few hundred bucks here and there, but honestly, why should I ever have to explain my personal business with friends or family or who lent what to whom to whom

here's a perfect example of stuff that shouldn't be any government business and why I shouldn't even be in a spot where I have to explain myself:
it's Friend A's birthday, so I buy a gift that's split between me and Friend B, and then Friend B transfers her share of the cash into my checking account

or a buddy needs to buy something online but doesn't have a card, or his account is maxed out, or whatever... so I pay for it with my card and he just transfers the exact amount back to my checking account

so why on earth should I have to explain that, or waste my precious time dealing with the IRS and losing my mind wondering if they'll actually accept my reasoning or not?

it's just common sense gone out the window... 😵

Here is another scenario: someone accidentally entered their savings account number instead of their checking account on their tax return form,
they actually received some funds—but since the payout went to a savings account, the IRS flagged it as taxable income, which then ended up being rolled into their next annual tax filing 🙂

Laura Chavez93 said:One has to make a choice☕ if the IRS already possesses all the data and full access—why then would they bother requesting citizen information from banks in the first place?

They have "access" in theory, but right now, the banks hold the keys. They act based on what the bank reports. Under this new law, the government bypasses that middleman and gets a direct line into everything.

Kimberly Roberts3 said:exactly, you’re stuck in this position where you have to justify everything, and it all comes down to whether some IRS agent decides to believe your story or just labels it extra income and hits you with taxes plus penalties.
my checking account is full of transactions that have absolutely nothing to do with my income, usually just small amounts of a few hundred bucks here and there, but honestly, why should I ever have to explain my personal business with friends or family or who lent what to whom to whom

here's a perfect example of stuff that shouldn't be any government business and why I shouldn't even be in a spot where I have to explain myself:
it's Friend A's birthday, so I buy a gift that's split between me and Friend B, and then Friend B transfers her share of the cash into my checking account

or a buddy needs to buy something online but doesn't have a card, or his account is maxed out, or whatever... so I pay for it with my card and he just transfers the exact amount back to my checking account

so why on earth should I have to explain that, or waste my precious time dealing with the IRS and losing my mind wondering if they'll actually accept my reasoning or not?

it's just common sense gone out the window... 😵

Signed!

From Apple iPhone 15

wiredlynx28 said:Exactly, it’s a very broad term.
Take a look at a mandatory form, for instance. It asks which income bracket you fall into based on salary—up to $X amount, up to $Y amount, etc. Then it asks for your annual turnover in your checking account and so on. Based solely on those data points, if your business doesn't match the marked amounts, JPMorgan Chase sees that something is off. For example, if your total checking account turnover exceeds the declared limit and you have deposits that don't align with your salary, it’s obvious you have other income sources, and that gets reported to the IRS automatically. Then they come knocking, asking you to document the source of funds and all that jazz.
Basically, there's no cause for concern as long as you can prove where the money came from, regardless of the amount.
The bank is simply following orders from the Government.

I mean, personally? I’d much rather live in a country where I don't have to constantly prove I'm not some kind of criminal.

Quincy:

The bank is just following orders from the government.

When it comes to reporting stuff to the IRS, yeah, that's exactly right—it's really an issue with the state itself, not the bank.

Laura Chavez93 said:One has to make a choice☕ if the IRS already possesses all the data and full access—why then would they bother requesting citizen information from banks in the first place?

And how exactly do you think the IRS gets that info? They have direct access to bank databases? Yeah, right...