Tax

Congress is considering whether to fund Biden administration spending priorities by forcing tax evaders to pay what they owe. Banks are intensifying efforts to kill a related provision requiring them to share more account data with the Internal Revenue Service.

JPMorgan Chase settled a longstanding French criminal investigation over allegations it helped clients commit tax fraud for 25 million euros ($29.6 million).

Infrastructure will command most of lawmakers’ attention, but expect banks to keep pushing for bills that would ease the transition away from a key benchmark rate and help them serve legal cannabis businesses.

Financial services companies are set to be exempt from a global plan to make multinational firms pay more tax to the countries where they operate, in a win for U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.

The Biden administration wants financial institutions to tell the government more about their customers to help the IRS thwart wealthy tax evaders. But critics say the plan could threaten account data security and the privacy of even low-income consumers.

Bank lobbyists are once again calling on Congress to reexamine credit unions’ tax-exempt status, this time citing the proliferation of bank acquisitions by credit unions. So far, their pleas have gone largely ignored.

The president had campaigned on a 28% corporate tax rate — threatening to undo much of the Trump-era cuts — and banks were seen as more vulnerable than other industries. But the administration appears open to a lower rate as part of broader legislative talks.

A Biden administration initiative to crack down on wealthy taxpayers hiding pass-through income would require financial institutions to send account flow data to the IRS.

A proposal still in the early stages to have banks report on customers’ account activity to help the government nab tax evaders is being panned by the industry as overly burdensome and a privacy threat.

The deal should allow the prepaid card issuer to expand its footprint in a business it entered seven years ago.

Loans and tax-subsidized investments by financial institutions have helped fund food markets and pantries in low-income communities. But there is still more work to do to close the grocery gap.

Bankers say the federal tax exemption for credit unions costs U.S. taxpayers $2 billion each year. But eliminating it would prevent the not-for-profit financial institutions from channeling their savings into higher rates and lower fees that stimulate commerce — and generate additional tax income.

Heritage Southeast Bank in Georgia will become the latest community bank to stop paying federal taxes when it merges into VyStar Credit Union later this year. It's time for Congress to investigate this consolidation trend and its impact on taxpayers.

Six years after unloading its bank unit, the tax preparation chain wants to diversify by launching a digital account targeting low- and moderate-income households. How will it differentiate itself from upstarts like Chime, Varo and Green Dot?

The pandemic is likely to dominate the discussion during CUNA’s online Governmental Affairs Conference, but perennial issues such as the industry’s tax exemption will also be spotlighted.

Transportation and clean-energy upgrades could create significant new lending opportunities, but some observers fear the government will foot the bill through a special tax on banks and other financial firms.

The bank trade group called for lawmakers to revoke the industry’s tax exemption and suggested that credit union acquisitions of banks create a “brain drain” of local lending expertise that could slow any economic recovery.

The original coronavirus stimulus program in 2020 stumbled out of the gate, delaying payments for months and exposing America's lack of universal access to the financial system. With round two, it's the digital rails that are sputtering early on.

After three years of savings, top U.S. banks could face an increased tax bill of as much as $11 billion a year if President-elect Joe Biden moves forward with corporate rate hikes he campaigned on.

Now that Democrats have won control of the Senate following the Georgia runoffs, experts say tax increases, progressive regulators and stricter congressional oversight await. Still, there could be some positives for banks, too.