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Center for Freedom and Prosperity's Weekly Update 4) CFP Hall of Fame and Hall of Shame 5) Three Cheers for Senator Gregg 6) CFP and 42 other groups send letter to Secretary O'Neill on privacy concerns 7) European Democrat Students Ask O'Neill to Drop OECD HTC proposal 8) Prominent Conservative Praises Bush & O'Neill 9) Financial Times: Letter to the Editor from Prof Luis Suarez-Villa 10) FEI Speaks Out Against the OECD's Harmful Tax Competition Proposal 11) DEADLINE APPROACHING—May 31: IRS Regulation Comments Needed 13) The hard left tries to defend the OECD… Over the last two weeks, the Center has received over one hundred congratulatory phone calls, letters, and emails. This is all very appreciated, and we are very proud of what the Center – working with
so many strong allies – has accomplished.
But while we have won an important battle, the war is not over. News reports indicate that the OECD intends to press forward. The EU has not withdrawn its savings tax directive. The IRS has not pulled its proposed regulation on bank deposit interest paid to foreigners. Just in case anyone is laboring under false illusions, I can assure both our friends and enemies that the Center is in this fight for the long haul. We will continue to work 14-hour days until tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty are safe from oppressive governments. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
Report from Paris: The Center for Freedom and Prosperity lead a delegation to Paris for the OECD's Ministerial Meeting. There was some bad news. I was victimized by a pickpocket on the Metro, leading me to remark to a friend at the time, "I know the French government likes to reach into people's pockets to take money it does not deserve, but now I realize that this same distasteful habit has spread to some of the people." Fortunately, this incident was offset by good news. Thanks to strong leadership from the U.S. delegation – which battled the French delegation on almost everything, including a fight over whether to use "conclusion" or "conclusions" in the communiqué language – the OECD has dramatically scaled back its support for the so-called "harmful tax competition" initiative. This year's communiqué merely notes that the anti-tax competition project exists, a dramatic change from the ringing endorsement for the project in last year's communiqué. 2001 communiqué: 2000 communiqué: 3) Press Statement: CFP Applauds U.S. Delegation To OECD Meeting; Announces New Competitive Tax Policy Campaign PARIS (MAY 20, 2001) - The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's so-called "harmful tax competition" effort suffered a serious setback at the
organization's recently concluded ministerial meeting. In a dramatic reversal from last year, the end-of-session communiqué issued by the OECD's member nations contained no endorsement of the organization's attack
on low-tax countries. Instead, the communiqué merely noted that the project existed. Full statement linked below: 4) CFP Hall of Fame and Hall of Shame Fighting on the front lines of this issue, we have learned to appreciate strong allies. We also have learned that there are many who are willing to capitulate for personal advantage. As a result, we thought this would be a good time to launch an "Unsung Hero Award" and a "Benedict Arnold Award" for those whose actions demand special recognition. These awards, which will be an occasional feature of our weekly update, are designed to help the broader community get a better appreciation of the behind-the-scenes battle. Select the link be low to see who won the … UNSUNG HERO AWARD (goes to the person, institution, or government that has demonstrated special valor and commitment in the fight to preserve tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty). Congratulations to…
BENEDICT ARNOLD AWARD (named after America's infamous Revolutionary War traitor, goes to the person, institution, or government that has demonstrated a special cowardice or incompetence in the fight to preserve tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty.) Congratulations to…
5) Three Cheers for Senator Gregg. Financial Times: OECD submits to external audit . . . Judd Gregg, chairman of the Senate committee responsible for US contributions to international organisations, wrote this month to ask the State Department to investigate whether the OECD was sufficiently transparent. "If the OECD cannot be held accountable to the American taxpayers, Congress will have to reconsider America's contribution to the OECD," the letter said. [Link to full
article below.] 6) CFP and 42 other groups send letter to Secretary O'Neill which raises privacy concerns about the OECD and FATF proposals. Press release and letter linked below: Press Statement: Letter: 7) European Democrat Students Ask O'Neill to Drop OECD HTC proposal European Democrat Students (EDS), at its 4th Council Meeting on May 5th 2001 in Coimbra, Portugal, decided to send the linked letter below to Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill. Established in 1961,
European Democrat Students (EDS) is the oldest and largest political student organization in Europe. With 41 member organizations from 40 European countries EDS represents more than 300.000 students of the European
centre-right. 8) Prominent Conservative Praises Bush & O'Neill David Keene: How Paul O'Neill turned back the Eurocrats 9) Financial Times: Letter to the Editor from Prof Luis Suarez-Villa, OECD must relearn lessons on value of tax competition 10) FEI Speaks Out Against the OECD's Harmful Tax Competition Proposal The Washington based Financial Executives International Committee on Taxation, representing the interests of about 15,000 CFO's, Treasurers, Controllers and other senior financial executives in over
8,000 corporations throughout the United States and Canada, has urged Treasury to oppose the OECD's harmful tax competition proposal. Link to letter below: 11) DEADLINE APPROACHING—May 31: 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.] Tax-News.com: O'Neill v the OECD: It's Only Round One Fabius calls on U.S. to continue fight against tax evasion, money laundering Europe and U.S. Clash Over Plans to Target Tax Havens Reuters: U.S. under gun over change of heart on tax havens The Daily Telegraph (London): EC rejects tax harmony and turns to lifting trade barriers* AFX European Focus: EU's Bolkestein to favour company tax competition in next wk's strategy plan The Earth Times: Steps to tackle international fraud discussed at OECD summit BBC News: EU condemned over planned 'snoop laws' The Daily Telegraph(London): Helpful competition* Financial Times: Dublin wins plaudits from OECD [*NOTE: Since this internet link is too long for this email, this link takes you to a link on our web page which connects you to the full internet story. Thank you.] 13) The hard left tries to defend the OECD… A Break for Tax Cheats The Taxonomist. Robert S. McIntyre
Kind regards, Andrew Quinlan
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