46 US Congressmen Tell President Bush To Dump Tax Information Proposal

Tax-News.com, Washington

10 April 2002

Representative Dave Weldon (R-FL) and Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL) released a bi-partisan letter (letter below) calling on President George W. Bush to permanently withdraw an Internal Revenue Service proposed regulation that would require US financial institutions to report interest income they pay to nonresident alien account holders. The letter, signed by 46 Members of Congress, explains that the IRS initiative is an abuse of the regulatory process and that the proposal would undermine US financial institutions and weaken the American economy.

"Representatives Weldon and Wexler should be congratulated on their leadership," said Andrew Quinlan President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. "This last-minute Clinton-era regulation," Quinlan added, "is not in the best interest of the County, which explains why 99 percent of the public comments and 100 percent of the public statements at the IRS hearing were against the proposed regulation. Moreover, every financial trade association - from those representing small, local credit unions to those representing large money center banks - oppose this regulation."

Five House Committee Chairmen or Ranking Members signed the letter including Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton (R-IN), Rules Committee
Chairman David Dreier (R-CA), Science Committee Ranking Member Ralph Hall (D-TX), Small Business Committee Chairman Don Manzullo (R-IL) and House
Administration Committee Chairman Robert Ney (R-OH).

Daniel Mitchell, Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, remarked that, "The IRS regulation should have been withdrawn the day President Bush took office. The agency put ideology above the law, and its actions are threatening American jobs and American companies."

TEXT OF THE LETTER:

April 5, 2002

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

America's financial institutions benefit greatly from deposits of foreigners in U.S. banks. These deposits help finance jobs and generated economic growth mainly benefiting local communities, consumers, families, and small businesses. For more than 80 years, the United States has recognized the importance of foreign deposits and has refrained from taxing the interest earned by them or requiring their reporting.

Unfortunately, a rule proposed by the Internal Revenue Service would overturn this practice and would likely result in the flight of hundreds of billions of dollars from U.S. financial institutions. A regulation proposed in the waning hours of the previous administration requires the reporting of bank deposit interest paid to foreign account holders so that this information can be made available to the countries of origin of the nonresident alien account holders.

Mr. President we appreciate all that you have done to prevent the finalization of this proposed rule. We have several objections to this initiative, and strongly urge you to permanently withdraw the proposed regulation. Specifically:

• The regulation will cause serious irreparable harm to the U.S. economy. Because of the attractive tax and privacy laws of the United States, nonresident aliens are estimated to have deposited over $1 trillion in U.S. financial institutions. Should this regulation be finalized, economic and academic sources indicate that a substantial portion of that capital will be withdrawn from the U.S. economy. Some deposits have started leaving U.S. financial institutions already. During this time of economic concern, we urge that every effort be made to keep capital within the borders of the United States.
• The regulation flagrantly violates the intent of Congress. On several occasions, lawmakers have chosen to refrain from taxing the deposit interest paid to nonresident aliens. These actions were made for the explicit purpose of attracting and keeping capital in the U.S. economy. We feel the IRS is abusing its regulatory authority and doing so in a manner that is contrary to Congress' intent and the last eighty years of legislative history.
• The regulation will weaken the competitiveness of U.S. financial institutions. Should the proposed rule take affect, American companies will lose hundreds of billions of dollars in deposits to institutions in competing jurisdictions that maintain privacy protections. The purported goal of the regulation will not be achieved, but will instead disadvantage American businesses and communities.

This proposal may be good news for high-tax governments, but it is contrary to American economic interest. The jobs of American workers and the competitiveness of U.S. companies should be our top priorities. This regulation works against both. It will put Americans out of work and it will force dollars out of U.S. financial institutions and into foreign financial institutions.

It has now been longer than one year since the IRS proposed this rule. We urge that you withdraw this proposed regulation and send a clear message to existing and potential depositors that the U.S. encourages such deposits and believes America's best interest is served by maintaining current policy.

Sincerely,

Dave Weldon
Robert Wexler
Spencer Bachus
Jim DeMint
Jim Ryun
Mike Ferguson
Charles Gonzalez
Max Sandlin
Don Manzullo
David Dreier
Jim Davis
Phil Crane
Steve Chabot
Jeff Miller
Chris Cannon
Mark Foley
Sue Kelly
Walter Jones
John Doolittle
Gil Gutknecht
John Hostettler
Joe Pitts
Todd Akin
Tom Tancredo
Sam Johnson
John Shadegg
Butch Otter
Phil English
Bob Barr
Jennifer Dunn
Robert Ney
Jack Kingston
Ralph Hall
Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Michael Bilirakis
Bart Gordon
J. Randy Forbes
Dan Burton
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Peter Deutsch
Dan Miller
Jim Gibbons
Ron Paul
Allen Boyd
Wally Herger
Pete Sessions

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