Debate: Should Multimillion-Dollar 401(k)s, IRAs be Reported to the IRS?

Bloink: Even if we manage to close all the tax loopholes that the super-rich currently use to maximize pretax retirement savings, we still need a way to limit these tax-preferred accounts so that they aren’t used to allow the ultra-wealthy to avoid paying any income taxes at all. This reporting proposal would give the IRS the tools to enforce any limitations that Congress is able to enact.

Byrnes: If this proposal actually became law, the ultra-wealthy would simply move onto a new investment strategy while millions of low- to middle-income families could lose a valuable tax-preferred savings tool. In other words, it is very likely that a reporting rule like this would actually backfire.

Bloink: Retirement accounts are given tax preferences to encourage ordinary Americans to save to fund their own retirement. They are not meant as tax shelters for the ultra-wealthy. As we’ve seen in recent years, the very rich are often able to use their Roth investments to amass fortunes within these tax-preferred accounts. Those earnings are then withdrawn tax-free under the law.

That is not what these retirement accounts are designed to do. More detailed reporting requirements would give the government a clear picture of how these accounts are being used so that we can impose valuable limitations to ensure everyone pays their fair share.

Byrnes: Very few Americans are using Roth IRAs as tax shelters. Those that have managed to amass large investment gains within Roth accounts have often done so after using their retirement funds to invest in risky startup businesses that happened to make good.

We don’t want to discourage that type of investment — and we shouldn’t be trying to punish Americans for using legitimate tax-preferred savings strategies in a legal way, remembering that Americans are free to choose their own investments within their retirement accounts.

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