Treasury Rule Bodes Well for Manufacturers
The proposed regulations provide much-needed certainty.
Manufacturers scored a significant victory with the Treasury Department’s new proposed tax regulations, which would help implement the pro-growth intent of tax reform and save manufacturers from unintended U.S. tax on high-taxed foreign earnings.
Prior to passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the high U.S. corporate tax rate discouraged companies from bringing their foreign earnings back to the United States. Tax reform moved the U.S. toward a territorial system, which allows businesses to bring foreign earnings back to the United States without an additional layer of U.S. tax. To make sure companies still paid some tax, however, the law also created a provision called Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, essentially imposing a minimum 13.125 percent tax on foreign earnings.
While the move was intended to target low-taxed foreign income, the way the provision interacts with current international tax rules means that some manufacturers can be subject to U.S. tax on foreign earnings that are already taxed above 13.125 percent—effectively removing the upper limit that Congress envisioned and making the backstop largely meaningless. Manufacturers have repeatedly called on Treasury to integrate the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the existing tax system in a manner that achieves congressional intent.
“While there’s still work to be done, there’s no doubt that Treasury’s proposal is an important step in the right direction,” said NAM Vice President of Tax and Domestic Economic Policy Chris Netram.
“Congress intended to make it easier for manufacturers operating globally to reinvest their foreign earnings in jobs, in equipment and in infrastructure in the U.S.,” said Netram. “The proposed regulations provide much-needed certainty on the reach of this provision.”
This new proposed rule, coming after more than a year of hard-fought advocacy by the NAM, partially alleviates the burden through a high-tax exception companies can opt into. The elective high-tax exception offers companies with high-taxed foreign income the ability to avoid paying additional U.S. tax provided that the foreign tax rate is greater than 18.9 percent.
While higher than the intended 13.125 percent rate, the elective 18.9 percent rate still provides meaningful relief for manufacturers operating around the world, offering additional certainty and a chance to invest in further growth.
“This is an important positive development in moving closer to the intent of Congress and in allowing manufacturers to support their workers, grow their businesses and contribute to the American economy,” said Netram.
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Manufacturers Unveil Competitiveness Agenda Ahead of Midterm Elections
“Competing to Win” offers a path for bringing the country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the midterm elections, the National Association of Manufacturers released its policy roadmap, “Competing to Win,” a comprehensive blueprint featuring immediate solutions for bolstering manufacturers’ competitiveness. It is also a roadmap for policymakers on the laws and regulations needed to strengthen the manufacturing industry in the months and years ahead.
With the country facing rising prices, snarled supply chains and geopolitical turmoil, manufacturers are outlining an actionable competitiveness agenda that Americans across the political spectrum can support. “Competing to Win” includes the policies manufacturers in America will need in place to continue driving the country forward.
“‘Competing to Win’ offers a path for bringing our country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM is putting forward a plan filled with ideas that policymakers could pursue immediately, including solutions to urgent problems, such as energy security, immigration reform, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing workforce shortage and more. Manufacturers have shown incredible resilience through difficult times, employing more workers now than before the pandemic, but continued resilience is not guaranteed without the policies that are critical to the state of manufacturing in America.”
The NAM and its members will leverage “Competing to Win” to shape policy debates ahead of the midterm elections, in the remainder of the 117th Congress and at the start of the 118th Congress—including in direct engagement with lawmakers, for grassroots activity, across traditional and digital media and through events in key states and districts as we did following the initial rollout of the roadmap in 2016.
The document focuses on 12 areas of action, and all policies are rooted in the values that have made America exceptional and keep manufacturing strong: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.
Learn more about how manufacturers are leading and about the industry’s competitiveness agenda at nam.org/competing-to-win.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million men and women, contributes $2.77 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 58% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org
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