WASHINGTON  D.C. – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., issued the following statement today on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 introduced by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

“My colleagues, Finance Chairman Baucus and Ways and Means Chairman Rangel, have introduced a strong bill to combat offshore tax abuses. When their committees move to markup, I hope to work with my colleagues to strengthen the Baucus-Rangel bill by adding some of the measures from the offshore tax bill I’ve introduced with Senators Whitehouse, McCaskill, Nelson, Sanders, and Shaheen. Those additions include provisions that would authorize Treasury to take action against foreign financial institutions that impede U.S. tax enforcement; make sure that financial institutions look behind shell corporations and trusts to identify U.S. accountholders; and close the offshore dividend tax loophole by ending scams involving stock lending as well as equity swaps. Cracking down on offshore tax abuses will bring in needed revenues which are owed to our Treasury.”