A bill on Thursday was introduced to the US Senate and the US House of Representatives to relieve double taxation of investments between the US and Taiwan.
US Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden and ranking member Mike Crapo, along with US House of Representatives Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith and ranking member Richard Neal, introduced the proposed US-Taiwan expedited double-tax relief act.
The Senate Finance Committee last month unanimously passed the bill, which puts double tax relief directly into the US tax code to expedite the process to months instead of years, Wyden has said.
Photo: Reuters
The introduction on Thursday was a “concrete step forward” to avoid double taxation between the two sides, strengthen US-Taiwan ties and stimulate economic development, the Senate Finance Committee said in a statement.
“It’s a no-brainer for US jobs and for America’s national security to strengthen our economic partnership with Taiwan,” Wyden said.
It is rare for the bipartisan leaders of US Senate Finance and the US House Ways and Means committees to come together to introduce legislation, he said, pledging to work together with other lawmakers to “get our legislation over the finish line.”
“Without question, deepening ties with Taiwan and its vibrant democracy is in our nation’s best interests,” Crapo said.
Introducing the bill in the Senate and the House “marks an important next step in unlocking opportunities to help workers and businesses of all sizes get ahead in both the US and Taiwan,” he added.
The legislation would promote investment and create jobs, bringing prosperity to the US “and a key economic partner,” Smith said.
Solving the issue of double taxation is “urgent” as the US-Taiwan alliance “is ripe for expanded investment,” Neal said.
The introduction of the bill followed the signing of the first agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade in June, which is “another strong show of support for the US-Taiwan alliance,” the committees said.
The proposed bill would amend to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, instead of authorizing the US government to negotiate a tax agreement with Taiwan, which US Senator Robert Menendez supported.
Menendez chairs the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which in July passed the Taiwan tax agreement in support of a binding tax agreement that requires US Congress approval.
“We can find a compromise to move both bills forward jointly, but it will require the chairman and ranking member to demonstrate some flexibility in their approach,” he told the Senate Finance Committee last month.
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