Credit Union advocates breathed a sigh of relief as the tax exemption for credit unions was not altered by a tax reform bill introduced last week by Senate Republicans.
“NAFCU (National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions) and our members thank Chairman [Orrin] Hatch [R-UT] and Senate Republican leaders for recognizing that altering the tax status of credit unions would have a devastating impact not only on credit union members across the country, but also on consumers and small businesses,” NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger said. “As both the House and Senate continue their work on tax reform, we’re staying in close contact with lawmakers to ensure the preservation of credit unions’ tax exemption and other interests.”
The Senate Finance Committee, led by Hatch is due to mark up the bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, this week.
The bill preserves the mortgage-interest deduction with a cap of $1 million for the purchase of new homes and keeps 401(k) retirement accounts intact. Further, it entirely repeals state and local property tax deductions.
Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee approved the House version of the bill, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (H.R. 1). It also did not touch the tax-exempt status of credit unions.
“NAFCU is gratified that the credit union tax exemption would remain unchanged under the House Ways and Means Committee’s markup of this bill,” Berger said. “We appreciate Chairman Brady and other committee members’ efforts thus far to protect the exemption. NAFCU will continue to work with members of Congress as the process moves along to reiterate the positive contributions credit unions make to American consumers and our economy as a whole.”
NAFCU said preserving the tax exemption for credit unions is its top legislative priority.