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Center For Freedom and Prosperity's Weekly Update 2) CFP Strategic Memorandum by Dan Mitchell on the OECD's "Progress Report" 4) OECD Releases Progress Report on Addressing "Harmful Tax Practices" 5) IBD: Dan Mitchell's op-ed "Europe's Vassal: IRS Reg Exposes Foreign Investors To Tax Fleecing" 6) Sir Ronald Sanders on the OECD's "Progress Report"
Dan's Strategic Memorandum is a good summary of our efforts in Washington. We are very busy educating policy makers on the dangers of tax harmonization to the U.S. economy. We also are pleased to see that more members of Congress are urging continued U.S. opposition to tax harmonization. Dan and I will be attending the Caribbean/Latin American Action annual conference in Miami, December 3-7. Those interested in attending should contact CLAA (link below) and those interested in meeting
to discuss how best to protect competition, privacy, and sovereignty should send me an e-mail. Link to CLAA Conference below:
2) CFP Strategic Memorandum by Dan Mitchell on the OECD's "Progress Report" "The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has released its so-called Progress Report. As we say in America, the OECD has "egg on its face." It has been forced to once again delay its deadline (does anyone care anymore?). The Paris-based bureaucracy also has been forced to scale back its demands – much to the chagrin of hard line fiscal imperialists like France. "But has the battle been won? The answer is no. High-tax governments have not given up in their efforts to tax income earned in low-income jurisdictions. To be sure, the OECD looks increasingly
impotent, but this is not a reason to relax. It is now increasingly apparent that the OECD initiative is merely a "foot in the door" that will pave the way for the European Union's mandatory and automatic
"information exchange" scheme. Indeed, the OECD even acknowledges that its effort complements the work of the EU. . ." Link to the full memo below:
3) REPS. NATHAN DEAL and GARY MILLER Urge Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill to Resist OECD/EU Tax Harmonization Agendas REP. NATHAN DEAL: Georgia Congressman Nathan Deal, a member of the powerful Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill in support of the Secretary's stand against the "information exchange" proposals of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union. Mr. Deal also voiced his
displeasure with the OECD/EU tax agenda and how it affects our civil liberties and our neighbors in the Caribbean. Rep. Deal said, "Information exchange, . . is not in America's interests. Our tax burden is
relatively low compared to most other industrialized countries. . . Needless to say, it would be foolish to change these policies just to help foreign tax collectors enforce oppressive tax regimes – especially when
it means they would be trying to tax income earned in America." Full letter linked below: Link to Rep. Nathan Deal's web page: REP. GARY MILLER California Congressman Gary Miller, a member of the both the influential House Financial Services Committee and the House Budget Committee, urges Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in a letter to resist
"the tax harmonization initiatives of the European Union and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)."
He also said, "Contrary to the claims of high-tax welfare states, tax competition is not "harmful." Rather, competition imposes much needed discipline on politicians across the globe." Gary Miller also said "Investigating and prosecuting universally recognized crimes like terrorism serves the interest of all decent nations. Setting up a cartel for the benefit of high-tax nations, however, is not in that category. Indeed, the OECD and EU schemes to hinder tax competition could undermine cooperation by hurting the world economy." Full letter linked below:
Link to Rep. Gary Miller's web page:
4) OECD Releases Progress Report on Addressing "Harmful Tax Practices" Notwithstanding concessions, OECD "harmful tax competition" scheme is still bad idea: contrary to America's economic interests. Below are comments by Andrew Quinlan of CFP and Dan Mitchell of Heritage Foundation on the OECD's report. We also have a link to our JUNE 28 comments on this report when it was leaked to the press. ANDREW QUINLAN: "The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's anti-tax competition scheme is becoming an international joke. Once again, the Paris-based bureaucrats have been forced to delay their alleged deadline. Moreover, the OECD has been forced to scale back its demands. It also is good to see that the OECD has relented to Bush Administration pressure and moderated its strident tone. Nonetheless, the OECD's tax harmonization initiative is still inconsistent with sound tax policy. "The OECD's plan was wrong three years ago, the plan was wrong last year and the plan is wrong today. The Center for Freedom and Prosperity will work hard over the next several months in Washington to insure that all lawmakers and policy makers are aware of the threat that tax harmonization poses to America's national interests." DAN MITCHELL: "The U.S. is the world's biggest beneficiary of international tax competition. Because of our relatively low burden and appealing tax and privacy laws for overseas investors, America is the world's largest tax haven. These policies have helped to attract more than $9 trillion to our economy. The last thing America should do is support policies that undermine its competitive advantage. "But opposition to tax harmonization should be based on more than just self interest. The OECD scheme is based on three flawed assumptions: 1) that income which is saved and invested should be subject to double-taxation; 2) that governments should tax income earned outside their borders; 3) that harmonized tax rates will boost the economy. This is why the OECD initiative is a major threat to fundamental tax reform." November 14, 2001 Press Release: June 28, 2001 Press Release: OECD Press Release: OECD Report: http://www.oecd.org/pdf/M00021000/M00021182.pdf OECD REPORT NEWS CLIPS: November 19, 2001, Tax-News.com, by Justin Gorringe, Offshore Jurisdictions Worry About OECD Report , November 15, 2001, Bureau of National Affairs, by Patrick Tracey and Myrna Zelaya-Quesada, OECD Extends Harmful Tax Deadline; Britain Takes Responsibility for Gibraltar November 16, 2001, Tax-News.com, by Amanda Banks, OECD Extends Tax Haven Compliance Deadline November 16, 2001, Tax-News.com, Offshore Jurisdictions Give Guarded Welcome To OECD Report
5) IBD: Dan Mitchell's op-ed "Europe's Vassal: IRS Reg Exposes Foreign Investors To Tax Fleecing" [Excerpt:] "President Bush may not realize it, but his efforts to resuscitate the economy with a stimulus package of new tax cuts could well be doomed to fail. Not because it's a bad plan - in fact, it's commendable - but because of a looming economic dagger that's heading right for its heart. "The dagger in question: a draft IRS regulation that would let foreign governments tax interest income their residents earn in America. Proposed just three days before President Clinton left office, this misguided initiative could drive hundreds of billions of foreign-owned dollars (international investments) from the U.S. economy. The resulting damage almost certainly would exceed any possible benefits that flow from the president's tax cut. . ." Link to full article below: November 12, 2001, Investor's Business Daily, By Daniel J. Mitchell, Europe's Vassal: IRS Reg Exposes Foreign Investors To Tax Fleecing Other Links on the IRS's Proposed Regulation on Non-Resident Alien Bank Deposits Florida Bankers Association's Press Statement on Opposing the IRS's Proposed Regulation on Non-Resident Alien (NRA) Bank Deposits CFP's Dump the IRS Reg. Page:
6) Sir Ronald Sanders on the OECD's "Progress Report" [Excerpt:] " `This report is written very cleverly…… if you read this report it sounds as if the OECD has sat down with us, has listened to what we had to say and has modified their report to take account of everything we asked for, and that simply is not the case,' said Sir Ronald Sanders, one of the Caribbean's leading spokesmen on financial services told the Caribbean Media Corporation. "He has called on Caribbean financial services jurisdictions to agree a collective response OECD's latest report on Harmful Tax Practices. " `I would hope no (Caribbean) country goes off and signs up to their demands without at least telling the rest of us that that's what they plan to do because if any country does that it will leave the rest of us badly exposed,' Sir Ronald told the CMC after the OECD released a 13-page progress report on Wednesday on the contentious issue. " `The ideal situation would be for all our jurisdictions who are affected by this to meet and to collectively decide how we are going to approach it on a going forward basis,' he said." Link to full story: November 1, 2001, Caribbean Media Corporation, by Johnson John Rose, CMC FEATURE – SANDERS: Not Much has changed with OECD
November 12, 2001, USA Today, by Del Jones, Terrorists' money laundering too sneaky November 8, 2001, EUObserver.com, Ireland benefited from defying the EU December 3, 2001, Insight Magazine, by Kelly Patricia O'Meara, Police State November 8, 2001, Wall Street Journal (Europe), By Roger Bate, State of the Union: The Icelandic Miracle Cure November 7, 2001, Tax-News.com, by Jason Gorringe, Iceland Considers Becoming A Tax Haven, November 8, 2001, Tax-News.com, Barbados Lawyers Warned Over Money Laundering, by Amanda Banks November 9, 2001, Tax-News.com, by Amanda Banks, Barbados Opposition Criticizes Anti-Money Laundering Initiative November 9, 2001, Tax-News.com, by Amanda Banks, Tobin Tax Debate Continues As WTO Opens Ministerial Talks November 7, 2001, Washington Post, By Kathleen Day, U.S. Islamic Cash Outlets Investigated 'Hawalas' Suspected In Terror Funding November 7, 2001, Washington Post, A Hawalas Primer (Graphic) November 7, 2001, National Post, by Penny Beck, The onerous, expensive duty to keep an eye out for money launderers November 8, 2001, National Post, by Penny Beck,
Big Brother 007: Parliament's new money-laundering act predates Sept. 11's terrorism and will do little to foil such acts. It will increase tax revenues, cost taxpayers millions to enforce and seriously diminish Canadian's civil liberties
[This email address may be too long for one line. Make sure to add back remaining web address to browser, Thank you.] Best regards, Andrew Quinlan
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