FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-7601
June 14, 1999
No. OV-8
Congressman Amo Houghton (R-NY), Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the complexity of the current U.S. international tax regime. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, June 22, 1999, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Invited witnesses include representatives from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Tax Executives Institute, National Foreign Trade Council, financial services industry, software industry, heavy equipment manufacturing industry, pharmaceutical industry, and high-technology manufacturing industry. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The United States employs a "worldwide" system of taxation on income of U.S. corporations and its foreign affiliates. A U.S.-parent corporation incurs income taxes on the income of its affiliates earned abroad to the extent that the affiliates repatriate that income either through dividends or deemed dividends. This worldwide-tax system has become a maze of complex rules for sourcing and timing foreign income and expenses.
The laws enacted by Congress and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service over the past 40 years have introduced an amount of complexity which some believe has made the international tax regime unworkable and has resulted in an increasing amount of double taxation of U.S. corporations' foreign income. According to this viewpoint, the competitiveness of U.S. corporations vis-a-vis their international competitors thus is disadvantaged.
United States corporations remain the most competitive in the world as a result of superior technology and access to skilled labor. However, the current international tax regime may adversely affect the competitive advantages that such corporations now hold.
On June 7, 1999, Chairman Houghton and Rep. Sander Levin introduced H.R. 2018, the "International Tax Simplification for American Competitiveness Act of 1999."
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Houghton stated: "In an increasingly competitive global market, Congress must examine whether the complexity of the U.S. international tax regime puts U.S. corporations and their employees at a competitive disadvantage. Congressman Levin and I have introduced legislation to address several of these concerns."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The Subcommittee will review problems faced by domestic corporations in complying with the complexity of the current U.S. international tax regime as well as proposals to change the law.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, July 6, 1999, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Oversight office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.