Newsroom

NAFCU's analysis of the tax reform discussion draft released Wednesday by House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., shows the plan would make no change in the unrelated business income tax as it applies to credit unions.

NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger addressed this and other portions of the draft plan, which suggests no change in credit unions' federal tax exemption, in an email to members late Wednesday. "NAFCU spoke to senior Ways & Means Committee staff this afternoon, and they affirmed that the goal of the legislation was not only to protect credit unions as to their federal tax exemption, but also to protect their treatment regarding unrelated business income tax," Berger wrote.

Current law exempts federal credit unions from UBIT due to their status as instrumentalities of the federal government. NAFCU staff found that the Camp reform draft is clear on the matter of UBIT and credit unions: it would retain the status quo.

While the draft plan makes no changes in tax requirements for credit unions, it does lay out several provisions that would have an impact on credit union members and other consumers. Among them:

• Individual and corporate rate structure: The draft plan would reduce rates and collapse today's brackets into two brackets of 10 percent and 25 percent for nearly all taxable income (applicable to more than 99 percent of all taxpayers). It would cut the corporate rate to 25 percent.
• Standard deduction:The standard deduction would be raised to an inflation-adjusted $11,000 for individuals and $22,000 for married couples.
• Child tax credit:The credit would rise to $1,500 per child, would be adjusted for inflation and would be available to more families.
• Taxation of investment income:Long-term capital gains and dividends would be taxed as ordinary income, but 40 percent of such income would be exempt from tax.
• Alternative minimum tax: The plan would repeal AMT for individuals, pass-through businesses and corporations.

The plan also addresses education benefits, tax-filing for seniors, the earned income tax credit and charitable giving.