Bloomberg: Budget Plan Requires Reporting Stock Purchases to IRS

Interesting article on Bloomberg:  Budget Plan Requires Reporting Stock Purchases to IRS, by Ryan J. Donmoyer:

Brokerages and banks would be required to report the purchase price of securities to help the federal government collect some of the $290 billion in taxes that go unpaid every year, under the budget plan President George W. Bush proposed today. The change, which would affect companies such as Merrill Lynch & Co., Citigroup Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co., would help the Internal Revenue Service recover as much as $3 billion of the $11 billion in capital gains taxes that go uncollected each year, the budget proposal said. Reducing the so-called tax gap -- the amount of taxes owed that isn't collected -- may allow the administration to find sources of revenue to narrow the deficit. It may also make it easier for Democrats who control Congress to enforce pay-as-you- go budgeting, which requires spending increases and tax reductions to be offset by spending cuts or tax increases.