U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced legislation that would disallow Foreign Tax Credits for companies that pay taxes to the Russian government.
The Support Ukraine Through Our Tax Code Act would deny foreign tax credits for income taxes paid to Russia or Belarus. If passed, they would join an existing list of countries already ineligible for foreign tax credits: North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Sudan.
“American taxpayers should not subsidize the Russian war machine. Vladimir Putin continues to bomb civilians, and credible reports and strong evidence of war crimes, including the execution of civilians and forced deportations, emerge daily,” Wyden and Portman said in a joint statement.
The discussion draft of their bill has already been reviewed by stakeholders and outside experts. This bill reflects changes from those discussions.
“If companies choose to keep doing business in Russia and paying taxes to Putin’s government in the face of these atrocities, they should forfeit their foreign tax credits and deductions for taxes paid to Russia in the United States. Russian oligarchs and companies supporting Putin also shouldn’t be getting tax benefits in the United States. These are simple propositions,” the senators stated.
Wyden is the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, while Portman also sits on the committee.