WASHINGTON–What are credit unions doing with their “billions in unpaid taxes?” According to a piece sent to all 535 congressional offices by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), buying banks and paying multi-million-dollar salaries to executives and then not reporting it.
The piece was sent by ICBA to members of Congress as part of its “Wake Up” campaign, which as CUToday.info reported earlier is aimed at repealing the federal tax exemption—at least for the largest credit unions initially—and claiming credit unions no longer fulfill the reason for which they were created.
Under the headline “What do credit unions do with their billions in unpaid taxes,” the piece stresses five bullet points, beginning with “Billion-dollar credit unions account for 75% of lost tax revenue. Credit unions over $1 billion in assets saw their share of the estimated credit union tax subsidy increase by 260% over the past two decades, despite the fact they comprise only 6% of the total number of credit unions,” the text states.
Other bullet points claim the “unpaid taxes” are going toward bank-buying sprees, million-collar salaries for top executives, extravagant office buildings (including skyscrapers and vanity office parks) and multi-million-dollar standing naming rights.
‘Take Action’
“Wake up and take action,” the piece concludes. “Credit unions pocket up to one-third of every tax-subsidized dollar. In 2018, this amounted to $900 million that was not returned to credit union members.”
The ICBA is urging congress to visit icba.org/wakeupwp for a white paper it has produced.
“If the first work week of the year on Capitol Hill is any indication, the bank lobby is turning up the volume and intensity of their anti-credit union rhetoric,” said John McKechnie, senior partner in the Washington advocacy firm Total Spectrum. “Are the charges they’re making new? Not really. Is the decibel level and frequency greater? Probably. At a minimum credit unions will need to pay very close attention to whether the bank message is resonating, and be ready to tell their story in new and better ways.”