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Center for Freedom and Prosperity's Weekly Update 3) Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman Endorses CFP's fight to Preserve Tax Competition 4) Let Treasury Know Your Views 5) Reaction to Secretary O'Neill's Statement 6) OECD disregards its biggest financial supporter, vows to maintain attack on low-tax 7) Tax-News.com: European Think Tank Recommends International Tax Privacy Code 8) DEADLINE APPROACHING: IRS Regulation Comments Needed 10) Andrew Quinlan's Paris information
A lot has happened over the last few days. Secretary O'Neill has announced that the US does not support the OECD "Harmful Tax Competition" Project. This is a huge victory, but the war is not over. We have heard from our friends that representatives of high-tax European countries are putting pressure on the US, and we know that many ideologically motivated career bureaucrats at the Treasury and IRS still support the attack on tax competition. That is why the Center has decided to redouble our efforts over the next few weeks. I will be leading a delegation to Paris to speak to the Press and meet some of our colleagues in Europe (contact info below). We are actively working with Members of Congress and leading economists all over the world. In fact Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman has endorsed our work - see comments below. We have also issued a strategic memo to public sector and private sector leaders of low-tax jurisdictions (attached below). This is only the beginning of the real fight.
2) Center For Freedom and Prosperity Issues Strategic Memo to Public Sector and Private Sector Leaders of Low-Tax Jurisdictions One additional point: Please keep the Center informed. Let us know if the OECD is using a new strategy. Tell us if you hear rumors that a jurisdiction is wavering. This is the kind of information
exchange – based on the voluntary consent and self-interest of both parties – that we favor.
3) Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman Endorses CFP's fight to Preserve Tax Competition: "I write to express support for the Center for Freedom and Prosperity's support of tax competition. "Competition among national governments in the public services they provide and in the taxes they impose is every bit as productive as competition among individuals or enterprises in the goods and services they offer for sale and the prices at which they offer them. Both lead to variety and innovation; to improvement in the quality of the goods and services and a reduction in their cost. A governmental cartel is no less damaging than a private cartel. "The principle of subsidiarity-- that government services be provided, and paid for, so far as possible, at the level of government closest to the citizen -- would be violated by any attempt to impose from the center a uniform tax regime. "Sincerely yours, Milton Friedman Hoover Institution" [From an e-mailed received this week from Dr. Friedman]
4) Let Treasury Know Your Views Please keep in mind that this is just one battle in a long war for tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty. Until the OECD turns off the lights on this project, we need your help. Please contact Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and become one of the many voices speaking out against the OECD's misguided "harmful tax competition" project. Contact the Treasury at For more information check out the link below:
5) Reaction to Secretary O'Neill's Statement Wall Street Journal (Europe): Presumed Guilty Financial Times: Editorial comment: Targeting tax havens CFP News Summary: U.S. Treasury Secretary Says OECD Tax Haven Crackdown Is Out of Line; Treasury and OECD Hold Talks in Paris
6) OECD disregards its biggest financial supporter, vows to maintain attack on low-tax nations: BNA: Bolkestein Says EU Regrets U.S. Opposition To OECD's Harmful Tax Competition Initiative Bloomberg News: OECD's Johnston Says U.S. `Misunderstands' OECD Tax Measures The Guardian (UK): OECD to defy Bush over tax havens Washington Post: EU Official: U.S. Won't Halt OECD Tax Effort (Reuters)
7) Tax-News.com: European Think Tank Recommends International Tax Privacy Code The European Financial Forum recommends that protection should be given against retrospective tax laws, disproportionality, unfair procedures and breach of confidentiality. Taxpayers should be given
an explicit right to arrange their affairs in such a way as lawfully to minimise the burden of tax.
8) DEADLINE APPROACHING: IRS Regulation Comments Needed Contact the IRS and SAY NO to proposed IRS regulation on requiring US financial institutions to report interest income paid to foreign account holders. This new regulation would be devastating to the
US economy since it will force a large amount of foreign investment to move somewhere else. More information linked below: [Please Note: Please email CFP your statement to the IRS and we will post selected comments.]
Crain's Chicago Business Newsroom: Imperial overreach Disarm the global tax police: it's no crime to shelter cash in tax havenshttp://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?portal_id=16&page_id=76 0 Reason Online: Tax Haven Haters: The OECD's hypocritical campaign against low-tax countries BNA: Investment Association Says Stamp Duty Damaging Britain's Wealth, Urges Repeal. This article cites the need to be internationally competitive…more evidence that competition leads to better tax
policy. BNA: European Commission Reacts to Election of Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's Prime Minister. This article illustrates that Europe's socialist governments are happy to have good relations with brutal
dictators, but get upset and issue threats when democratic elections result in a market-friendly government.
10) Andrew Quinlan's Paris information: Hotel Opera Grands Blvd 33 (0)148 019 797 (telephone) Wednesday, 5/16/01 to Sunday 5/20/01 (departing)
Kind regards, Andrew Quinlan |
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