Credit Union Trades to Talk Tax Exemption on Capitol Hill

BY HEATHER ANDERSON

NAFCU and CUNA say they’ve been called to Capitol Hill on Thursday to discuss the credit union federal tax exemption with the House Ways and Means Committee.

The committee’s financial services working group, chaired by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) and John Larson (D-Conn.), is gathering information through April 15 as Congress prepares to undertake tax reform, NAFCU said in a release.

The committee has announced in February that it had formed 11 bipartisan working groups to study tax reform issues.

“This meeting is part of our ongoing, non-stop effort to remain vigilant during the tax reform debate,” said NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler. “We want to make sure the working group understands the value of credit unions and the credit union tax exemption.”

Thaler said NAFCU will stress a 2012 study on the value of the credit union tax exemption that revealed the federal government would actually suffer a net loss of revenue if the tax exemption were eliminated.

CUNA Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs Ryan Donovan said he’s “delighted” credit unions will have an opportunity to make what he called a “great case” for the preservation of the industry’s tax exemption.

In a Monday Wall Street Journal editorial, House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said they will provide the public with an opportunity to provide tax reform input via social media.

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