WASHINGTON–The ranking member of the House Ways & Means Committee called on credit unions to help him in his fight against more government spending and proposed tax increases.
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) told NAFCU’s Congressional Caucus he was delivering his remarks virtually because his committee was voting on a multi-trillion-dollar Biden Administration proposal at the same time. He described that proposal as $2 trillion in spending on “everything from expanding the welfare state to the Green New Deal” while also “raising $3 trillion in new taxes on workers and small businesses.”
He said the proposal will “reverse” progress made by Republicans and the Trump Administration to build the “number-one economy on the planet” and to lift a record number of households financially.
If passed as proposed, said Brady, the Biden Administration proposal will create a business tax rate “higher than Communist China.”
The Good News
“The good news is the credit union tax exemption is in place. I think that’s the result of the great work this organization has done in educating members (of Congress),” said Brady. “I do know that removing the CU tax exemption would create great damage and cost 80,000 jobs.”
The latter is a reference to a new study released by NAFCU, as CUToday.info reported here.
Brady, who is retiring at the end of his term in 2022 after 25 years in Congress, confirmed that language that would have required credit unions to report certain deposit/withdrawal transactions to the IRS has been removed from the bill currently before Congress.
“It’s not in this tax package, but as you know that doesn't guarantee it won't resurface sometime,” he told the meeting.
‘Terrible Intrusion’
He said the proposal is a “terrible intrusion in the privacy of the members of credit unions on Main Street. “I worry about this because, frankly, the IRS doesn't have a very good track record of keeping your personal private taxpayer information private.”
Brady said he also opposes a Democrat plan calling for $80 billion to add 80,000 new IRS agents, and said he is proposing alternative legislation to “close the tax gap” while not spending billions on additional IRS personnel.