National Taxpayers Union (NTU) on Tuesday announced that its President Pete Sepp was named chair of the World Taxpayers Associations (WTA), a global network of taxpayer groups from more than 50 countries providing policy education for lower taxes, limited and accountable government, and taxpayer rights.
In his role as chair, Sepp will make the policy case against new global tax proposals from the United Nations that prioritize environmental and social goals over fiscal soundness. Another proposal mimics digital services taxes for nearly all cross-border payments.
“We’ve seen the result of Europe’s experiments with heavy taxes on productive activity and taxation as social policy: stagnant economic growth, complicated administration, and ultimately diminishing revenue. Taxpayers deserve better than bureaucrats in far-off places plotting to separate them from hard-earned money,” Sepp said. “We will directly confront these wrong-headed ideas in the public square.”
Sepp is among WTA's foremost experts on tax administration reform, and plans to stress the importance of procedural protections for taxpayers during his tenure. “Wherever they may reside, every taxpayer deserves such basic rights as efficient customer service, an independent appeals process, and a fair hearing in court,” he said. “WTA will continue to carry this message across the globe.”
Sepp was named president of National Taxpayers Union and National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) in 2014. He began at the organization in 1988 (the same year WTA was formed), working every position from lobbying Congress to leading the marketing team. NTUF has contributed crucial research and analysis to WTA.
Sepp has lectured in the U.S. and abroad on issues such as tax administration reform. In his career, he’s lobbied on numerous matters including the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act and successor proposals, the Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment, and the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. He has testified in Congress dozens of times and completed thousands of radio and TV interviews.
Sepp previously served the World Taxpayers Associations as vice-chair.
National Taxpayers Union is the only free-market organization for taxpayers that unites effective advocacy with useful research about how to limit taxes, spending, and regulation at every level and branch of government—state, federal, administrative, and judicial.