05-24-2008, 10:10 AM
Quote: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 Social Security numbers at a time when ID theft experts are urging companies to wean themselves from the use and collection of such information...
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 the IRS would be tied to each merchant's taxpayer identification number. The problem is, in many cases, small businesses use their owners' Social Security numbers as their taxpayer ID...
full article: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityf...v=rss_blog