H.R. 1799, Financial Reporting Threshold Modernization Act

Bill Summary

H.R. 1799 would raise certain thresholds for reporting transactions and suspicious activities to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and adjust those amounts for inflation every five years. For example, the bill would increase the threshold for which financial institutions and businesses are required to report transactions conducted in cash from $10,000 to $30,000. The bill also would reduce the number of money service businesses (entities that provide money transfer services or payment instruments) that are subject to those reporting requirements.

H.R. 1799 would require the Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the private sector and law enforcement, to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of the reporting requirements for currency transactions and suspicious activity and would extend through 2031 the requirement for the Director of FinCEN to testify annually before the Congress.

Estimated Federal Cost

The costs of the legislation fall within budget functions 370 (commerce and housing credit) and 750 (administration of justice).

Basis of Estimate

CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted in fiscal year 2026.

Direct Spending and Revenues

In total, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1799 would decrease revenues and direct spending by less than $500,000 over the 2026-2036 period; the net effect on the deficit would be insignificant.

Enacting H.R. 1799 would require several agencies whose operating costs are classified as direct spending to amend their regulations. Because some of those agencies collect fees from financial institutions to offset their operating costs, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would, on net, increase direct spending for those agencies by less than $500,000 in every year and over the 2026-2036 period.

Additionally, costs incurred by the Federal Reserve reduce remittances to the Treasury, which are recorded in the budget as revenues. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would decrease revenues by less than $500,000 over the 2026-2036 period.

Under current law, businesses that fail to submit reports about suspicious activity or cash transactions, or structure transactions to avoid reporting requirements, are subject to civil and criminal penalties. CBO estimates that, by increasing the threshold for which businesses are required to report to FinCEN, the bill would reduce collections of those penalties by a small amount. Civil penalties are deposited in the Treasury and recorded in the budget as revenues. Criminal penalties are recorded as revenues, deposited into the Crime Victims Fund, and spent without further appropriation. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1799 would reduce revenues and direct spending from penalty collections by less than $500,000 over the 2026-2036 period.

Spending Subject to Appropriation

Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1799 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026-2031 period for FinCEN and other agencies funded through annual appropriations to comply with the bill’s requirements. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

CBO estimates that the cost to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement H.R. 1799 would be insignificant. Because the SEC is authorized to collect fees each year to offset its annual appropriation, CBO expects that the net effect on discretionary spending over the 2026-2031 period would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority.

Pay-As-You-Go Considerations

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would decrease direct spending and revenues by less than $500,000 in every year and over the 2026-2036 period.

Increase in Long-Term Net Direct Spending and Deficits

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1799 would not increase net direct spending in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1799 would not significantly increase on‑budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037.

Mandates

If federal financial regulators increase annual fees to offset the costs of implementing the bill, H.R. 1799 would increase the costs of an existing private-sector mandate on entities required to pay those fees. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be small and would fall well below the annual threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for private-sector mandates ($214 million in 2026, adjusted annually for inflation).

The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.

Estimate Prepared By

Federal Costs: Jeremy Crimm

Mandates: Rachel Austin

Estimate Reviewed By

Justin Humphrey
Chief, Finance, Housing, and Education Cost Estimates Unit

Kathleen FitzGerald 
Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit

H. Samuel Papenfuss 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

Estimate Approved By