Hearing Follows Brown’s Letter Urging President to Reinstate Penalties on Chinese Solar Panels;
Brown Presses for Competency Standards for Paid Tax Preparers to Improve Accuracy of Returns
WASHINGTON, D.C. –During a Senate Finance Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) pressed Treasury Secretary Yellen to prioritize American solar companies and their workers in the implementation of tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
“The Inflation Reduction Act created new tax credits to support the domestic solar industry, as Treasury finalizes its rules will you ensure China can’t profit from these rules without creating a genuine domestic supply chain?” Brown asked.
“Yes, one purpose of IRA is to make sure that we reduce our dependence on China and have a strong domestic capacity and the features of the law guarantee that and we’re working on guidance to implement the law to guarantee that,” Yellen replied.
This exchange followed a letter Brown sent to President Biden urging him to rescind the suspension of market-balancing tariffs on Chinese solar product importers in four southeast Asian countries – Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam – to level the playing field for American manufacturers and workers and give them the opportunity to better compete in the global economy.
Brown also highlighted the need to ensure that paid tax preparers must meet minimum competency standards to ensure that working families file accurate tax returns that allow them to claim the tax credits they’ve earned, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). Brown asked Yellen if she thought there would be fewer error as a result of such requirements, to which she replied that she supported such an effort and that incompetent and dishonest paid preparers undermine accuracy in the tax system.
“I wish my colleagues were as interested in tax cheating among billionaires as they were among low-income people but I guess that’s just how politics in 2023 seems to work,” said Brown.
