Senate Finance Committee to hear today how U.S. int'l tax policy is impacting 'American workers, jobs, investment'

Because government office buildings are currently not open to the public, the hearing is being livestreamed and available to view free of charge, according to the Finance Committee's website.   

It isn't known the extent to which the hearing will focus on issues affecting overseas U.S. workers and their employment, although the American Citizens Abroad is among the organizations to have submitted a statement in advance. 

Ahead of today's hearing, the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation published a major report entitled U.S. International Tax Policy: Overview and Analysis last week, as reported.

 The ACA's statement, which is three pages long and signed by ACA chairman Jonathan Lachowitz, ACA executive director Marylouise Serrato, and chairman of the ACA Global Foundation Charles Bruce, begins by noting that U.S. international tax policy "overwhelmingly" focuses on corporations and business entities while ignoring "individuals, in particular American citizens residing outside the United States". 

It then goes on to address such topics as the need for Congress to replace the current U.S. citizenship-based tax regime with one based on residence like "all other industrialized countries" as well as, it's thought, all the rest with the exception of Eritrea"; and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (which ACA says it believes "Congress will want soon to revisit portions of...[leaving] the door ajar for considering  residence-based taxation for individuals"). 

The ACA's statement ends: "Congress should not again ignore the Americans abroad." 

A few hours before the hearing was set to begin, the ACA's Bruce said he and his ACA colleagues believed "real movement on this issue" was possible, "because of a number of things, including [the fact that] Congress is going back into the TCJA subjects, which will bring territoriality for companies and RBT for individuals on the table." 

ACA's write-in campaign calling for RBT is also "raising the visibility of the subject," he added. 

Today's hearing is scheduled to include statements by Finance Committee members Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, and Mike Crapo, Republican from Indiana, as well as from a series of expert witnesses, including Kimberly Clausing, deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis at the U.S. Treasury; Pam Olson, former assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury; Chye-Ching Huang, executive director for the Tax Law Center of New York University's School of Law; and James R. Hines Jr., professor of economics and law at the University of Michigan. 

The Finance Committee said others interested in submitting their own statements to the committee on the issue of the U.S.'s tax policy and its impact on American workers, jobs and investment are invited to do so should submit it in Word document form, "single-spaced, not exceeding 10 pages in length".

The title and date of the hearing as well as the full name and address of the individual or organization submitting the statement "must appear on the first page", and  they must be received by the Finance Committee "no later than two weeks following the conclusion of the hearing".

The Word document statement may either be emailed to this address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or else mailed – but not faxed – to: Senate Committee on Finance, Attn. Editorial and Document Section, Rm. SD-219, Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.,Washington, DC 20510-6200, U.S.A.

To view the live hearing, and to watch a recording of it afterwards, on YouTube, click here.