A report from an economic advisory panel to the Obama Administration broke into the usual late summer political doldrums last week and returned credit unions to the perennial tax debate again.

The Presidential Economic Recovery Advisory Board made the recommendation of eliminating credit unions' federal tax exemption as part of a much larger set of ideas of how the current federal tax structure could be simplified and improved. The panel was charged with making recommendations regarding the tax system "to achieve three broad goals: simplifying the tax system, improving taxpayer compliance with existing tax laws, and reforming the corporate tax system," the report said. Reports from previous administrations have made the similar recommendations.

"Unlike other financial institutions like banks and thrifts, credit unions do not pay corporate taxes on their income," the report said. "This puts them at a competitive advantage relative to other financial institutions for tax reasons. Eliminating this exemption would raise revenue and level the playing field, but would clearly raise taxes on credit unions."