CUNA: Credit unions DO pay taxes

Someone—it’s not clear who—once used the term “lies, damn lies and statistics” to describe how numbers can be used, and misused, to bolster arguments.

For years, credit union trade groups and their banking counterparts have thrown around huge numbers to demonstrate the impact credit unions have on tax revenue. For banks, credit unions cost the federal, state and local governments billions because they do not pay income taxes. Conversely, credit union officials contend that they pay a variety of other taxes and add billions to the economy as a result of lower interest rates and fees.

Welcome to the latest chapter in this decades-old fight.

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) has produced a study using data from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to estimate the economic impact of credit unions. The study also relies on data from CUNA itself and the National Credit Union Administration.

 

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