On November 16th the full U.S. House passed its tax reform package (H.R. 1). This bill was on a fast track, as it was just released by the House Ways and Means Committee on November 2nd. While the bill has several changes that are proposed and the merits of which still being debated in the media, the credit union tax exemption was not impacted in the bill that passed. However, there are several provisions of the bill that would touch credit union operations (click here for CUNA’s analysis of the provisions).
The bill now travels to the Senate, where there has been work on a different tax proposal. The Senate released its own version of the tax reform bill on November 9th, and then a significantly changed version on November 15th. Neither version of the Senate bill at this stage impacts the credit union tax status, and the Senate Finance Committee passed the bill along party lines on November 16th. This Senate bill is anticipated to be on the floor for debate after the Thanksgiving recess, but it is uncertain if there are enough votes in the Senate to pass. Please click here for CUNA’s analysis of the Senate bill provisions.
And while Congress debates tax reform on a national level, on the state level the Georgia Senate held its sixth off-session hearing on November 14th to analyze tax exemptions and incentives. The state Senate has been systematically reviewing tax credit/exemption programs to weigh a return on investment with selected tax programs, whether the programs are working, and whether they should (or should not) be continued. During the hearing, there were multiple tax credit/exemption programs discussed, and will likely see changes due to the analysis of the return the exemption brings to the state. Credit unions are not referenced in the analysis, but these hearings will continue to be monitored closely to prevent negative impact to the industry.
