The Frontrunner | April 7, 2004
The Hill (4/7, Hearn) reports in its "Business and Lobbying" column, "Tax lobbyists from a handful of Washington lobbying firms have benefited handsomely from corporate tax bills pending in the House and Senate. According to lobbying reports filed with the Senate, lobbying firms brought in approximately $6 million last year serving corporate clients -- including at least eight corporate coalitions -- with a range of issues related to the bills."
The legislation "repeals the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income (FSC/ETI) tax break, which has been ruled an illegal export subsidy by the World Trade Organization, and replaces it with a plethora of corporate tax breaks. As the only corporate tax bills this year, and ones that must move if the United States is to avoid additional trade sanctions from the European Union, the legislation has enjoyed an unusually high level of lobbying activity. Often, firms with a high level of tax expertise were hired by a number of different clients, which in some cases created the potential for a conflict of interest, said several congressional aides who reviewed the lobbying expenditures."The Frontrunner:
