Supreme Court Case Pits Privacy Against IRS Power to Trace Cash

The US Supreme Court is slated to hear a case Wednesday that will test the reach of privacy protections against the IRS’s power to demand bank account records without ever notifying account holders.

The question for the court in the case, Polselli v. IRS, is whether the Internal Revenue Service has to tell account holders it has demanded those records when trying to collect on someone else’s taxes. Taxpayer rights groups and business advocates have urged the justices to rein in the agency, while the IRS has said it is using a power Congress granted.

Typically, the agency’s next ...