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Center for Freedom and Prosperity's Weekly Update 1) Alabama Senator Urges O'Neill to Oppose the OECD's "Information Exchange" Scheme 2) CF&P Calls on the Bush Administration to Issue Regulations to Protect Taxpayers Financial Privacy 3) Roundtable on Tax Competition, Financial Privacy and the EU, UN and OECD Tax Agendas 5) Media reports on CF&P Foundation's UN Tax Agenda Report
1) Alabama Senator Urges O'Neill to Oppose the OECD's "Information Exchange" Scheme U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a member of both the powerful Armed Services and the Judiciary Committees, urges Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill "to reject the information exchange proposals of the OECD to protect America's economic interests." In a letter dated August 3, Sen. Sessions praises Sec. O'Neill, "Thanks to your efforts, the explicit tax harmonization agenda of some European nations has been thwarted. This is good news for America, since we are the world's biggest beneficiary of tax competition." Sen. Sessions also warns the Secretary, "If the OECD succeeds in creating what has been called a 'global network of tax police,' the United States will face tremendous pressure to change our
attractive tax and privacy laws. Other countries should not tax income earned in America. And they certainly should not expect the United States government to help them enforce their bad tax laws inside our borders
- especially if it means that we would have to compel our financial institutions to become informers for other nations' tax collectors." Link to full letter below:
2) CF&P Calls on the Bush Administration to Issue Regulations to Protect Taxpayers Financial Privacy The Center for Freedom and Prosperity calls on the Bush Administration to issue regulations that provide due process legal protections to taxpayers. More specifically, the Center urges that taxpayers be notified when a government requests their private financial information for tax purposes and that they also have the opportunity to object to the sharing of that information. CF&P endorses the report issued by Bruce Zagaris a partner in the D.C. law firm of Berliner Corcoran & Rowe. Zagaris' report discusses the pledges made by the Reagan and Bush Administrations to issue regulations that protect taxpayers' financial privacy over a decade ago. Excerpt for Zagaris' Press Release: "[I]n 1990 the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations recommended its approval of the Council of Europe/OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on the basis of its understanding that 'the Administration intends to adopt an administrative procedure under which it will generally notify an affected taxpayer who is a U.S. citizen or resident of specific requests and spontaneous exchanges.' "According to Mr. Zagaris, the Bush Administration was able to mollify and overcome the concerns of the International Chamber of Commerce and other business concerns by promising to publish regulations, requiring the Treasury to give notice and an opportunity to object to tax requests for information. In addition, Treasury officials said they would consider applying such regulations to all requests for tax information exchanges. More than ten years later, according to Mr. Zagaris taxpayers and business groups awaited eagerly the regulations." Link to Zagaris' Press Release and Report below: Press Release: Report:
3) Roundtable on Tax Competition, Financial Privacy and the EU, UN and OECD Tax Agendas The international roundtable on Tax Competition, Financial Privacy and the EU, UN and OECD Tax Agendas was successful. Since the OECD declined to send someone to participate, it was left to the rest of the panelists to educate the audience. CSPAN, the network that broadcasts the House and Senate proceedings, sent a crew to tape the event and they plan on airing the discussion in the near future. The panel was part of the 170th Anniversary Meeting of the International Platform Association (IPA). Roundtable Speakers: Andrew Quinlan, President, Center for Freedom & Prosperity; David Burton, Prosperity Institute; Carlos Gonzalez Ramirez, Morgan & Morgan, Panama; Anton Keller, Secretary, Swiss Investors Protection Association; Gilbert Morris, Security Policy Group International; Fred Smith, Competitive Enterprise Institute; and, Bruce Zagaris, Berliner Corcoran & Rowe. Bureau of National Affairs story on the roundtable:
4) FYI: While this is not a normal subject for the weekly update, some of you may be interested in attending 60 Plus's Annual Conference on Social Security. On Tuesday, August 14, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., at room HC-5, U.S. Capitol Building, 60 Plus will hold its annual conference on Social Security: Conference Information: Saving Social Security for the 21st Century Panelists: Merrill Matthews, PhD, Institute for Policy Innovation Moderators: Jim Martin, President, 60 Plus Association
5) Media reports on CF&P Foundation's UN Tax Agenda Report August 6, 2001, Bureau of National Affairs,, UN Proposals Would Harm Economy, Group Says August 6, 2001, Tax-News.com, by Jeremy Hetherington-Gore, United Nations Suggests All Citizens Should Become Slaves
August 6, 2001, Tax-News.com, by Mike Godfrey, BVI Prime Minister Warns OECD Not To Exclude Offshore Jurisdictions August 10, 2001, Tax-News.com, by Mike Godfrey, Top US Companies Urge Bush To Resolve FSC Spat With EU August 8, 2001, Miami Herald, Ashcroft calls money laundering a threat August 4, 2001, Miami Herald, Money laundering battle intensifies August 7, 2001, Financial Times, Brussels will pursue tobacco smuggling charges
Best regards, Andrew Quinlan
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