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June 06, 2014

Senate Finance to hold tax reform hearings

June 9, 2014 – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, on Thursday announced the first hearing in a series to review the nation's tax code with an eye toward comprehensive tax reform.

The first hearing is this month and will focus on education tax incentives. Hearings in July will review identity theft and taxpayer privacy protection as well as modernizing corporate taxation.

"This summer, the Senate Finance Committee will forge ahead with hearings that examine reforming the broken, dysfunctional tax code in areas ranging from taxpayer privacy protection to education to corporate taxation," Wyden and Hatch said in a statement. "When it comes to tax policy, comprehensive tax reform is our ultimate objective, and we are committed to using these hearings as the building blocks to that goal."

As a "bridge to broader reform," Wyden first addressed the expired tax extenders. A package of the tax extenders was approved by the Senate Finance Committee in April and awaits Senate action. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., has also released a tax reform draft with an eye toward future work on reform. The credit union tax exemption was not targeted in Camp's discussion draft.

As the legislative calendar winds down for 2014, these hearings could inform the direction of the Senate Finance Committee in the next Congress. NAFCU is keeping a watchful eye but continues to hear that credit unions' exemption from federal corporate income tax is safe.