Requiring CEOs to sign corporate tax returns: June 11, 2003.

On June 11, 2003, Tax Executives Institute submitted the following letter to members of the Senate Committee on Finance, urging Congress to abandon a proposal to require Chief Executive Officers to sign corporate tax returns. Originally passed by the Senate as part of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, the proposal was dropped before the bill was enacted. Senator Charles Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, however, has pledged to support the proposal on future tax legislation.

On behalf of Tax Executives Institute, I submit the following comments on provisions that were included in recent tax legislation that would require the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a corporation to sign the corporation's federal income tax returns. As the preeminent association of business tax professionals, TEI shares Congress's interest in maintaining the integrity of the nation's self-assessment tax and financial reporting systems. We fully support the goals of enhancing corporate accountability and improving the tax system, but regret that such proposal would not have the salutary effects hoped for and, indeed, could prove counterproductive. We urge the Committee to abandon it insofar as it would require the CEO to focus on the tax returns of a company rather than the process of ensuring the complete and proper reporting of its tax obligations.

Tax Executives Institute

Tax Executives Institute was established in 1944 to serve the professional needs of business tax professionals. Today, the Institute has 53 chapters in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Our more than 5,300 members are accountants, attorneys, and other business professionals who work for 2,800 of the leading companies in North America and Europe. As an international professional organization, the Institute is firmly dedicated to developing and effectively implementing sound tax policy, to promoting the uniform and equitable enforcement of the tax laws, and to reducing the cost and burden of administration and compliance to the benefit of taxpayers and government alike. TEI also supports efforts to ensure that companies fairly present their financial condition in financial statements and related documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CEO Signatures on Corporate Tax Returns

TEI urges Congress to abandon the proposal to require the CEO to sign a corporation's federal tax return and certain other related documents or statements. (1) We well appreciate the desire to enhance corporate...