Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senate Finance Committee Republicans, led by
Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
renewing requests for information regarding international tax
negotiations. To date, Treasury has been
unwilling or unable to fully engage with Congress to provide details on the
negotiations, which will have a significant impact on American workers,
businesses and revenue.
The senators raise concerns
with how the negotiations may negatively impact U.S. competitiveness; the
commitment from the United States to increase its global minimum tax before any
other country; and suggestions that Treasury could implement the agreement
without the advice and consent of the Senate, bypassing the treaty process.
From the letter:
“The Administration’s rush to reach a political
agreement, tied to its domestic spending plans and pursuit of revenue, has come
at the expense of thorough analysis and meaningful engagement with Congress and
the business community, and may ultimately put U.S. businesses at risk. . . .
Given this agreement’s potential to jeopardize U.S. competitiveness, we
continue to have concerns with the lack of detail underlying the approach being
proposed under Pillar One and its lack of foundation in any discernible tax
principles.
…
“Further troubling is Treasury’s continued insistence
that the United States once again move first by significantly increasing the
U.S. global minimum tax. . . . As Pillar Two does not require other countries
to adopt a global minimum tax, we are not confident that our biggest foreign
competitors, like China, will enact and implement a global minimum tax on the
same terms or on the timeline agreed to at the OECD.
…
“Finally, precedent indicates that any
multilateral tax agreement that achieves the stated goals of Pillar One would
need to be submitted to the Senate as a treaty, yet Treasury suggests
that the United States could fully implement Pillar One without the advice and
consent of two-thirds of the Senate through the treaty process. . . . . [A]ny
suggestion that Pillar One can be implemented absent treaty ratification is a
dramatic shift from past precedent and calls into question the binding nature
of any such agreement, thereby threatening the very tax certainty that many of
our companies, and this Administration, claim to seek under Pillar One.”
The senators end the letter
with a detailed list of questions regarding the proposals, reiterating that any
opportunity for a bipartisan outcome will require greater transparency and
engagement from Treasury.
All Republican members of the
Finance Committee signed the letter: Mike
Crapo (R-Idaho, Ranking Member), Chuck
Grassley (R-Iowa), John
Cornyn (R-Texas), John
Thune (R-South Dakota), Richard
Burr (R-North Carolina), Rob
Portman (R-Ohio), Pat
Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), Tim
Scott (R-South Carolina), Bill
Cassidy (R-Louisiana) , James
Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Steve
Daines (R-Montana), Todd
Young (R-Indiana), Ben
Sasse (R-Nebraska), John
Barrasso (R-Wyoming).
Full text of the letter can be read here.