The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation, joined by 44 of the country’s largest and most influential free-market groups, has sent a letter urging Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to “protect America’s self-interest” and oppose proposals by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) that “seek to thwart tax competition and penalize good tax policy in other jurisdictions.”
The letter from the Coalition for Tax Competition states, “Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota has proposed S. 396, a bill which targets American companies operating in selected low-tax jurisdictions and strips away their ability to postpone the imposition of a second layer of tax on their foreign-source income. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan has proposed S. 681, a bill which imposes a wide range of taxes, regulations, and penalties on American taxpayers operating in selected low-tax jurisdictions. … Both of these pieces of legislation are deeply flawed. They share a common premise that the U.S. government should adopt an adversarial position against jurisdictions with pro-growth tax policy.”
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March 19, 2007
The Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
Secretary
Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
Dear Secretary Paulson,
We are writing to express our concern about two Senate proposals that would undermine American competitiveness, discriminate against developing nations, and compromise the U.S. commitment to free trade in financial services.
Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota has proposed S. 396, a bill which targets American companies operating in selected low-tax jurisdictions and strips away their ability to postpone the imposition of a second layer of tax on their foreign-source income. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan has proposed S. 681, a bill which imposes a wide range of taxes, regulations, and penalties on American taxpayers operating in selected low-tax jurisdictions.
Both of these pieces of legislation are deeply flawed. They share a common premise that the U.S. government should adopt an adversarial position against jurisdictions with pro-growth tax policy. Specific flaws include:
·Both bills will undermine American competitiveness. Only U.S. taxpayers seeking to operate in low-tax jurisdictions will be penalized by these proposals. Foreign taxpayers will be able to benefit from good tax policy in these jurisdictions, while American taxpayers will suffer a competitive disadvantage. The United States will lose market share, causing a drop in jobs and exports.
·Both bills create discriminatory blacklists. Senator Dorgan’s legislation singles out 40 jurisdictions for discriminatory treatment, while Senator Levin’s bill targets 34 nations and territories. Exactly 75 percent of the jurisdictions blacklisted in S. 396 and more than 75 percent of the jurisdictions blacklisted in S. 681 are in the developing world. Neither bill targets wealthy nations such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and the United Kingdom, even though they all have “tax haven” policies, and Senator Dorgan’s bill omits Luxembourg and Switzerland.
·Both bills violate America’s trade obligations. The United States wisely supports free trade in services, a policy which unambiguously promotes the national interest. Unfortunately, S. 396 and S. 681 both would impose protectionist barriers and almost surely put America in violation of its World Trade Organization obligations. Equally worrisome, the proposals would invite other nations to target the United States, particularly since America’s own “tax haven” policies for foreign investors have helped attract more than $10 trillion to the U.S. economy.
We urge you to protect America’s self-interest and oppose proposals that seek to thwart tax competition and penalize good tax policy in other jurisdictions. The United States is not a decrepit, high-tax European welfare state, yet this legislation is akin to the noxious tax harmonization schemes concocted in various European nations.
If some lawmakers are concerned that American taxpayers are shifting economic activity to low-tax jurisdictions because of better tax law, they should respond by fixing some of the laws in the internal revenue code, many of which were identified by the President’s Advisory Panel on Tax Reform.
We look forward to working with you and hope that you will resist anti-competitive, discriminatory, and protectionist proposals that are contrary to good economic policy.
Sincerely,
Andrew F. Quinlan ~ President, Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation
Veronique de Rugy ~ Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Grover Norquist ~ President, Americans for Tax Reform
John Berthoud ~ President, National Taxpayers Union
Ashley Miller ~ Director of Cong. and Public Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Matt Kibbe ~ President, FreedomWorks
Pat Toomey ~ President, Club for Growth
Fred L. Smith Jr. ~ President, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Karen Kerrigan ~ President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
Thomas Schatz ~ President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Tim Kane ~ Director, Ctr. for Int’l Trade and Economics, The Heritage Foundation
David A. Keene ~ Chairman, American Conservative Union
James L. Martin ~ President, 60 Plus Association
Gary Palmer ~ President, Alabama Policy Institute
Ryan Ellis ~ Executive Director, Alliance for Worker Freedom
Lori Roman ~ Executive Director, American Legislative Exchange Council
Daniel Clifton ~ Executive Director, American Shareholders Association
Tim Phillips ~ President, Americans for Prosperity
Mark Chmura ~ Executive Director, Americans for the Preservation of Liberty
Steve Voeller ~ President, Arizona Free Enterprise Club
Terrence Scanlon ~ President, Capital Research Center
Jeffrey Mazzella ~ President, Center for Individual Freedom
Chuck Muth ~ President, Citizen Outreach Project
Chip Faulkner ~ Associate Director, Citizens for Limited Taxation (MA)
Stephen Manfredi ~ Communications Director, Coalition to Protect Free Markets
Mallory Factor ~ Chairman, The Free Enterprise Fund
Michelle D. Bernard ~ President and CEO, Independent Women’s Forum
Kerri Houston ~ Senior Fellow, Institute for Liberty
Tom Giovanetti ~ President, Institute for Policy Innovation
Stephen J. Entin ~ President, Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation
Dr. Don Racheter ~ Moderator, Iowa Wednesday Group
J. Robert McClure, III ~ President and CEO, James Madison Institute
Colin A. Hanna ~ President, Let Freedom Ring
Richard Falknor ~ Executive Vice-President, Maryland Taxpayers Association
Amy Ridenour ~ President, National Center for Public Policy Research
Lewis K. Uhler ~ President, National Tax Limitation Committee
Sharon J. Rossie ~ President, The Nevada Policy Research Institute
Fred Lane ~ Chairman, New York Tax Reform Organization
Bill Sizemore ~ Executive Director, Oregon Taxpayers United
Sally C. Pipes ~ President and CEO, Pacific Research Institute
Bob Bauman ~ Legal Counsel, Sovereign Society
David M Strom ~ President, Taxpayers League of Minnesota
Roland Boucher ~ Chairman, United Californians for Tax Reform
Charles W. Jarvis ~ Chairman, United Seniors Association
John Taylor ~ President, Virginia Institute for Public Policy
