Consumer complaint received 2022-11-22
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Privacy issues

Complaint:
Refer to Complaint # XXXX US Bank allegedly responded to my complaint on XXXX/XXXX/22. In the letter, US Bank simply repeated the facts I provided in my original complaint ; the timeline of the letters sent, my calls, and attached a copy of their cardmember agreement that I already had. In the alleged XXXX page letter US Bank addressed not XXXX single issue I raised, such as evident violation of my rights to privacy and federal tax disclosure laws. They direct me to Section XXXX of their own cardmember agreement that has nothing to do with cancellation of accounts. No provision in Section XXXX applies to my account. I am not in Default, US Bank directs me to Default section XXXX. What is this, a sick joke or making a fool out of a consumer? Or just trying to make a mockery of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? 

Section XXXX of cardmember agreement states : " XXXX. Collecting Credit Information about You : You authorize us to make any credit, employment and investigative inquiries we feel are appropriate related to giving you credit or collecting amounts owed on your Account. You agree that a consumer credit report may be requested periodically from XXXX or more consumer reporting agencies ( " Credit Bureaus '' ) and used in connection with your application and any update, renewal or extension of credit. We will provide information about you, your Account or your credit history to Credit Bureaus and others who may properly receive that information. '' Section XXXX does not state that I authorize US Bank to pull my XXXX  years of federal tax returns and bank statements when I did not apply for new account, I submitted no application for credit, I did not default, I am not subject to fraud or identity theft, I did not commit any crime, I did not provide false information. I DID NOTHING WRONG. Even in those cases US Bank and XXXX ARE NOT allowed to make an illegal request of federally protected confidential tax returns. Am I buying a real estate to be subject to such request? NO. Did I apply for mortgage? NO. So, why am I being directed to Section XXXX of the agreement? I already read the entire agreement trying to find the needle in the haystack. There is no needle. The agreement is very clear. I have not violated any provision of the agreement to be subject to such harassment by a credit card company. 

XXXX more time, I need VERY specific answers, facts that state the reasons behind requesting federal tax returns of the last XXXX years, and bank account statements among other things. As a consumer protected by FCRA, CCPA, as well as confidential tax disclosure laws, I have the right to know what US Bank is trying to throw under the rag and is not telling me to protect me from alleged fraud or identity theft that I am completely unaware of? I demand transparency, and not XXXX pages of duplicate complaint language. US Bank and XXXX are the same entity. And they are involved in illegal business practice of requesting consumer 's XXXX years of federal tax returns that is protected by 26 U.S. Code section 6103 due to its super confidential nature. Credit card companies are not listed among government agencies that are allowed to gain access to consumer 's tax returns for hundreds of purposes stated in the code section. 

Here is the Section XXXX language from the cardmember agreement : XXXX. Default : You and your Account will be in Default if : a ) we do not receive the Minimum Payment by the Payment Due Date disclosed on the monthly Account statement ; ( DOES NOT APPLY ) b ) you violate any other provision of this Agreement; ( DOES NOT APPLY ) c ) you die without a surviving joint Cardmember ; ( DOES NOT APPLY ) d ) you become insolvent, assign any property to your creditors, or go into bankruptcy or receivership ; ( DOES NOT APPLY ) e ) you have made false statements on your Account application or in the maintenance of your Account ; ( DOES NOT APPLY ) f ) we have any reason to believe that your Account is in danger of, or is being used for fraud ; ( DOES NOT APPLY, MY CREDITS ARE FROZEN, I RECEIVED NO ALERT OF ANY FRAUD ) g ) you are a married community property state resident and you or we receive a written termination notice of this Agreement from your spouse ; ( DOES NOT APPLY ) h ) your Account becomes inactive ; ( DOES NOT APPLY ) i ) anything happens that we believe in good faith materially increases the risk that you will not live up to your payment and other obligations under this Agreement; or ( DOES NOT APPLY, I HAVE XXXX CREDIT SCORE AND EXCELLENT CREDIT HISTORY ) j ) this is a joint Account and XXXX of you notifies us that he or she wants the Account closed or will no longer be liable on the Account. ( DOES NOT APPLY ) You and your Account will also be in Default if you make transactions which go over your Credit Limit. ( DOES NOT APPLY ) XXXX. Illegal Purchases : You agree that you will not use or permit an Authorized User to use the Card or Account for any unlawful purpose, such as funding any account that is set up to facilitate online gambling. ( DOES NOT APPLY ) NONE OF THE PROVISIONS APPLY TO ME. The response is false, fake, bogus. US Bank is committing yet another violation of unethical business practices by so blatantly lying to the CFPB and the consumer because they can not come up with valid reasons for this illegal request. They are trying to make the consumer look stupid and unintelligent. I am not XXXX of them. 

US Bank is in violation of their own agreement and my privacy rights requesting disclosure of my individual federal tax returns and bank statements ( and by the way, I have accounts with US Bank, and they have easy access to my bank statements ). 

26 U.S. Code 6103 - Confidentiality and disclosure of returns and return information, states in part : ( a ) General rule Returns and return information shall be confidential, and except as authorized by this title ( XXXX ) no officer or employee of the United States, ( XXXX ) no officer or employee of any State, any local law enforcement agency receiving information under subsection ( i ) ( 1 ) ( C ) or ( 7 ) ( A ), any local child support enforcement agency, or any local agency administering a program listed in subsection ( l ) ( 7 ) ( D ) who has or had access to returns or return information under this section or section 6104 ( c ), and ( 3 ) no other person ( or officer or employee thereof ) who has or had access to returns or return information under subsection ( c ), subsection ( e ) ( 1 ) ( D ) ( iii ), paragraph ( 10 ), ( 13 ), ( 14 ), or ( 15 ) of subsection ( k ), paragraph ( 6 ), ( 10 ), ( 12 ), ( 13 ) ( other than subparagraphs ( D ) ( v ) and ( D ) ( vi ) thereof ), ( 16 ), ( 19 ), ( 20 ), or ( 21 ) of subsection ( l ), paragraph ( 2 ) or ( 4 ) ( B ) of subsection ( m ), or subsection ( n ), shall disclose any return or return information obtained by him in any manner in connection with his service as such an officer or an employee or otherwise or under the provisions of this section. For purposes of this subsection, the term officer or employee includes a former officer or employee. '' Here is the Tax Disclosure language : " The law protects your tax return information from disclosure to other parties by the Internal Revenue Service. IRC Section 6103 generally prohibits the release of tax information by an IRS employee. However, there are important exceptions that you should be aware of. 

IRC 6103 ( d ) provides that return information may be shared with state agencies responsible for tax administration. The state agency must request this information in writing, and the request must be signed by an official designated to request tax information.

IRC 6103 ( i ) ( 1 ) provides that, pursuant to court order, return information may be shared with law enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution of non-tax criminal laws.

IRC 6103 ( k ) ( 6 ) allows the IRS to make limited disclosures of return information in the course of official tax administration investigations to third parties if necessary to obtain information that is not otherwise reasonably available.

IRC 6103 ( l ) ( 1 ) provides that return information related to taxes imposed under chapters 2, 21, and 24 may be disclosed to the Social Security Administration ( SSA ) as needed to carry out its responsibilities under the Social Security Act. Chapter 2 relates to self-employment income and does not normally concern employers. Chapter 21 concerns Social Security and Medicare ( FICA ) tax, and chapter 24 deals with income tax withholding. 

The IRS may therefore share information with SSA about Social Security and Medicare tax liability if necessary to establish the taxpayer 's liability. This provision does not allow the IRS to disclose your tax information to SSA for any other reason. SSA employees who receive this information are bound by the same confidentiality rules as IRS employees. Therefore, they generally can not disclose the information to a state Social Security Administrator ( SSSA ), state officials or other federal agencies.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation