The American Bankers Association this week made several recommendations to the Treasury Department and IRS to modernize and streamline the electronic delivery framework for brokers and barter exchanges, including adopting an opt-out model, establishing consistent rules across forms, and providing flexibility in handling delivery failures.
The agencies issued a notice in March seeking public comments on issues involved with the electronic furnishing of 1099-B statements and other payee statements. In a letter, ABA offered several recommendations reflecting input from its member banks. Most notably, the associations recommended that Treasury and the IRS:
- Permit an opt-out model for electronic delivery of all eligible payee statements;
- Establish consistent, principles-based rules across all payee statement types;
- Ensure that electronic delivery failure rules are flexible and aligned with existing “undeliverable mail” concepts applicable to paper statements.
“Modernizing these rules in a manner that prioritizes both flexibility and security will better align the information reporting framework with current taxpayer behavior while strengthening compliance and protecting sensitive taxpayer information,” ABA said.
