Becker promotes CU tax exemption

Sept. 28, 2012 – NAFCU has urged a policy group reviewing the federal budget situation to look to the association’s recently released tax study to see how the credit union exemption from federal corporate income tax really affects Americans.

The group, a non-profit organization that conducts studies and other projects focused on the government’s fiscal policy, has published a policy paper on tax reform and an interactive calculator offered to illustrate the impact of hypothetical changes in federal taxation of corporations. NAFCU President and CEO Fred Becker, in a letter sent Thursday, noted credit unions’ long-standing exemption from federal corporate income taxes and said benefits from that exemption accrue to members as well as nonmembers.

NAFCU commissioned a study on the exemption and released its findings during the Congressional Caucus in Washington. That study shows eliminating the exemption would, over the next decade, cost the federal government $15 billion in lost tax revenue; slow economic growth, or GDP, by $148 billion (in 2010 dollars); and result in 1.5 million lost jobs.

“We believe that the presentation of the tax calculator is such that users who choose to hypothetically eliminate the credit union tax exemption would, unfortunately, not have the means to accurately perceive the impact on consumers, businesses and the U.S. economy,” Becker wrote.

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