The Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee (TTAC) held its tenth meeting on March 14, 2023 at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington D.C. Key federal partners from various offices within Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service were represented at the meeting.
Background for the TTAC
The Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-168) was signed into law by the President in September 2014 and required the establishment of a seven-member TTAC. The committee members have a broad mandate to “advise the Secretary on matters relating to the taxation of Indians.” Among the duties, the TTAC helps establish training and education programs for Internal Revenue Service field agents who work with tribal governments and tribal finance professionals. NAFOA serves as a supporting organization for the TTAC.
TTAC Meeting Summary
Treasury Opening Remarks
- Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo delivered remarks and heard comments from TTAC members.
- Treasurer Chief Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba delivered remarks
Federal Updates
- Treasury’s Office of Tribal and Native Affairs: announced Fatima Abbas as their first director and laid out their plans for the future with the TTAC
- The Social Security Administration’s Director for the Office of Native American Partnership Richard Litsey spoke about the office and took questions from members of the TTAC
- Executive Director Morgan Rodman of the White House Council on Native American Affairs (WHCNAA) discussed the Economic Development, Energy, and Infrastructure Committee. Future events and updates can
also be found here - Tricia Miller and Carman Zucker of the IRS discussed the recent wave of hiring at the IRS. They mentioned that there will be new names and faces at the IRS working with Indian Country and that they will be providing education for staff to work with tribes on government to government basis.
Subcommittee Updates
- There was a motion to extend the subcommittees on General Welfare Exclusion, Dual Taxation, and Tribal Pensions. This vote passed unanimously.
- Chairman Allen nominated Dale White and Telly Meier to Dual Taxation and Tribal Pensions subcommittees. This vote passed unanimously.
Dual Taxation:
- On Fed 28th, 2023, they had a re-consultation on their report and have announce that they aim to add and refresh this report. The Consultation period will be going on to the end of March. Once all the comments are received and analyzed, they plan on making an update to add to this report.
GWE:
- Announced they are looking to hold sessions to discuss the comments that they received regarding their October 2022 report
Tribal Pensions:
- Extended motions for the full Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee:
1. To adopt the draft Tribal Pensions Subcommittee Report, and request publication on the Treasury Website with solicitation of Tribal input.
2. To support negotiation of an administrative moratorium against enforcement of non-governmental rules against Tribal plans pending guidance under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and legislative efforts for equal government status, including the elimination of the essential government functions and commercial activity tests.
3. To request Treasury to coordinate the administrative moratorium with Labor to ensure consistency and meaningful consultation.
All these motions were voted on and passed unanimously.
Future Plans
- The next TTAC meeting will be on June 14, 2023 and they plan on meeting again later this fall. Registration and other announcements will be sent out as it is available.
NAFOA is pleased to continue working with the TTAC and coordinating with other national and regional inter-tribal organizations to further our common goal of making tax policy and programs work for Indian Country. To provide comments directly to the TTAC, you can contact TTAC@treasury.gov.
A copy of the meeting minutes from this TTAC meeting will be made available to the public through the Department of the Treasury’s TTAC page. The website also contained meeting minutes and public comments from previous meetings.
