Director of President's Tax Panel Says ESOPs Were Not Specifically Discussed

The Presidential Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform (the "Advisory Panel") recently issued its final report, which proposed eliminating all present forms of defined contribution plans, which on its face would include ESOPs. However, the executive director of the Advisory Panel told the Employee-Owned S Corporations of America (ESCA), a lobbying group, that panel members simply did not get to the level of detail of the appropriate role of ESOPs, Subchapter S or otherwise. Stephanie Silverman, ESCA's director, said that "simply put, we have been told the Panel has made no decision to support or eliminate the continuation of current-law ESOPs. We have also been told that it would be inaccurate to infer that, simply because ESOPs are not mentioned in the report, the Panel intended that they be eliminated."