Credit Unions’, Members’ Action Strong As Tax Reform Enters Next Phase

Tax advocacy efforts by credit unions and their members have remained strong as the U.S. Congress prepares to draft comprehensive reform legislation in the coming weeks, with more than 100,000 separate congressional contacts being made to tell their legislators, “Don’t Tax My Credit Union!”

“Tax reform is alive and well on Capitol Hill. The credit union tax status is in the mix, and credit unions need to remain aware and active to protect their tax status,” Credit Union National Association Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs Ryan Donovan said.

The last in a series of tax reform options papers is expected to be released later this week. A tax options paper on exempt organizations and charitable giving released last week included two options of particular interest to credit unions: The paper mentioned that one option for tax reform could be to “disallow tax-exempt status for certain organizations engaged in business activities, such as credit unions, nonprofit hospitals or certain types of insurance.” The report also includes a discussion of options to expand Unrelated Business Income Tax.

With these and other papers having been released and discussed by the Senate Finance Committee, the process can move on to the next phase of writing new tax laws. Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chair of the Senate’s powerful tax-policy committee and leader of the Joint Committee on Taxation, is calling for the tax reforms to be finalized and introduced before the August recess, Donovan noted.

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