Western Union shares fall after proposal of a tax on remittances in the U.S.

New York,.- Shares of Western Union, a US multinational financial services company, fell on Tuesday following a proposal by several members of the Republican party in the United States House of Representatives to include a tax on remittances in the bill.

At 14:00 local time (18:00 GMT), shares of Western Union fell 2.75%, while those of one of its competitors, Remitly Global, fell 0.86% and PayPal, which also allows instant money transfers, fell 0.21% on the New York stock exchange.

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In the presentation of the ‘Great and Beautiful Bill’ -as it has been christened-, one of the proposed measures is to establish a 5% tax on remittances, which would fall on the sender. This would affect a large number of migrants in the country who send money to their families outside the U.S.

Republican lawmakers in Congress are seeking to advance this Tuesday the bill with which President Donald Trump wants to fulfill some of his promises, such as extending the tax exemptions from his first term with new reductions, although the tax on remittances goes in the opposite direction and serves to compensate for the eventual reduction of federal income.

The Republican proposal thus seeks to include exemptions for tips, overtime payments, loans to acquire automobiles manufactured in the country, and Social Security benefits, in addition to increasing tax benefits for the elderly and families with children.