Budget To Ask Banks for Securities Prices

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 Bush proposed yesterday.

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.

"One of the priorities of this administration is reducing the tax gap," the budget proposal said.