Death and taxes?
😎 Been hard to watch while credit union trade associations struggle to explain why our exemption from income taxation is still deserved.
✅ Here take a moment, as a credit union member, and write down your "1, 2, 3" reasons why your credit union should be tax-exempt, while commercial banks shouldn't. Will be interesting to see what you come up with!
Sometimes it helps to know what "our critics" say about the credit union tax exemption. One of the long-time, leading voices on national tax policy is the D.C.-based The Tax Foundation. They've been around for over 85 years and are not some "fly-by-night" organization, nor "in anybody's pocket". But, that doesn't make them right, either!
"The Tax Foundation is the world's leading nonpartisan tax policy 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For over 85 years, our mission has remained the same: to improve lives through tax policies that lead to greater economic growth and opportunity."
"Our vision is a world where the tax code doesn’t stand in the way of success. Every day, our team of trusted experts strives towards that vision by remaining principled, insightful, and engaged and by advancing the principles of sound tax policy: simplicity, neutrality, transparency, and stability."
One does not have to agree with The Tax Foundation on its conclusions. But it is usually wise to at least consider what they say, when formulating your arguments for preserving the credit union tax exemption.
Here's what the Tax Foundation has to say about credit unions [link]... it leads off with "Key Findings", if you don't want to wade through the whole piece.
✅ Still deserved? If so, why? If not, why?
If you don't like paying taxes, "raise your hand"!
The trades aren't struggling to explain it. The message is there. Conditions have changed a little, that's all.
ReplyDeleteThat said, do you have anything constructive to add about how the leagues should be explaining it then?
you're incredibly naive to believe the tax foundation is non-partisan.
ReplyDelete10.27am Bold statement, which "partisan" is it? How do you know?
DeleteThe only challenge with messaging right now is the dinosaurs like you, Steed and Filson who think you know better than current CU leaders. You three share in common that you don’t have the slightest idea how to run a modern day credit union. Just Monday morning quarterbacks who are harming the industry.
ReplyDelete10:33 pm Must object to the dinosaur comment. Not extinct yet... but you'll be glad to know I am working on it...
DeleteTwo questions: 1) Know who Chip Filson is, but who is "Steed"?
2) How do you run a "modern day credit union"?
Look forward to learning from your insight.
Typo. It’s Speed.
Delete7:32 OK, got it. Ed Speed is a highly respected retired CU CEO leader from Texas... currently functioning as a dinosaur evidently.
DeleteHere's where you can find several of his opinion pieces in CUDaily:
https://thecudaily.com/opinions/
@10:33am The whole American Psycho persona you’re giving is impressing no one. Dinosaurs..really? How people helping people of you! Your members sure are lucky.
DeleteThis is exactly the kind of attitude that does nothing but drive the entire Credit Union movement off a cliff and prove the banking lobby correct. I’m all for preserving the CU tax exempt status, but if you act like a bank, you deserve to be taxed like a bank. Not SECU-specific, but maybe if CU trade orgs spent less time whining over overdraft fee caps we wouldn’t be in this situation.
Taxes pay for public infrastructure, roads, clean water, good public schools etc. taxes are indeed a good thing.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know they aren’t in someone’s pocket? They literally rely on donations from deep pockets. Who has deep pockets? Good thing this group doesn’t write tax laws.
ReplyDeleteSee 5:27pm above Who are the "deep pockets"?
Delete1. We are member owned and therefore do not have the same drive for profit. We invest that money back into our membership and community. All other reasons stem from this one point. It allows us to be a trusted financial provider since we are not paid based on commission. We put members in the products that are best for them.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteget out your pocketbook members, we got another bill to pay ...
not everything old is bad and not everything new is good
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to push a bill that allows open memberships and want to compete against banks for non consumer loans, then you should have to pay taxes. You can't have it both ways.
ReplyDeleteLike race based lending, just because others are doing it, doesn't make it right.
RBL isn’t about right vs. wrong. It’s about smart vs. stupid. One rate for all isn’t illegal, so if you want to penalize your respondible members and make them subsidize people with bad credit, more power to you. It’s not wrong, per se. it’s just stupid. Virtually all other lenders figuring it out a coupla decades ago makes it smart. Doing things someone could easily copy it but doesn’t is stupid.
DeleteI'm so glad you figured that out so that charge offs and delinquency could explode and SECU could penalize members who have always paid their obligations. Good job!
DeleteStupid is as stupid does.
Can you describe how RBL leads to higher delinquency rates?
DeleteLending to members who have lower credit scores but have always (history) repaid loans to SECU at a higher right does not qualify as smart!!
Delete10:30 pm Surprised to see this one pop back up. The "it's currently legal" statement is of course true, as was slavery, Jim Crow, women aren't entitled to vote, etc... legal doesn't always mean it's right nor fair.
DeleteRBL is unfair because it "profiles" people by "how they look"... on their credit scores. No allowance for any real life circumstances such as unexpected job loss, untimely health issues/death, nasty divorce, government mismanagement of student loans, natural disasters such as hurricane Helene and now cut backs in federal grants with job losses.
Despite claims, the credit union no longer has time, nor cares, to listen to the member.
Want proof? The "brave new world" of new/new lending has produced record losses and delinquency.
Poor lending performance both fiscally and ethically.
you think it's all about pricing. We listen to members and take into account all those issues when we make a decision to grant or not grant credit. Once approved, how its priced is another matter. What you don't understand about lending is that even though things happen to people that weren't within their control and it affects their credit, it doesn't mean they aren't a relatively higher credit risk.
Deleteblah, blah.. same old tired argument about profiling. Curious, do you also think it's wrong to profile people by age and charge old people for medical insurance? Do you think it's wrong to profile people by age and charge 16 year old males more for car insurance?
Or, do you think we should go full blown socialist and charge and tax everyone to pay all the costs for those who create the auto losses and incur most of the medical costs?
Scores aren't perfect and no score or no human can correctly select the specific borrower that default. The whole RBL topic is about subsidy and whether it's right to all members to pay for the losses of a few. And, in your polly anish view of the world, not everyone with 660 score is a victim of a circumstance outside of their control. They over extend, spend unwisely, don't save when they can, and don't pay bills on time.
@11:27 - Talk about the same old tired, "let them eat cake", false choice argument...
DeleteBlah, blah, blah...
Ain't buying it.
Why is it a false choice? Explain.
Deletemarginalized folks have always been used for your "profits" and you're just the latest in a long line of abusers ...
ReplyDeletewho is "your"? there is no profit in serving marginalized members, by the way.
DeleteSMH ... just doesn't get it ...
DeleteThe dinosaur comment and other similar disparaging remarks puts the board and CEO on full display. That attitude was not among employees prior to 2021. Someone fed this crap to the New/New. Where did the disrespect come from? How did we suddenly become obsolete and disposable to THIS BOARD?
ReplyDeleteBecause they weren't vetted prior to being hired.
DeleteYou have to fit the culture of the credit union and believe in their principles, but even those have been eroding over the decades.
Their financial philosophy is not one of a non-profit credit union, and the executive team / board members emulate this position, else they would have put a stop to it.
They are disrespectful to the member/owners of the business which they are employed.
This has been nothing short of a hostile takeover from outsiders ... probably to enrich themselves if I had to gue$$...