(Washington, DC, December 12, 2005) — U.S. Treasury officials hope to have final regulations on the Virgin Islands Economic Development Commission tax program before the end of the year, according to officials who met with Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen last Friday. Christensen met with Deputy Assistant Secretary John Emling and Special International Tax Counsel Gretchen Sierra to get an update on the new regulations and to urge them to heed the recommendations made at the July hearing.

 “We were told, that they were very `deeply affected’ by the presentations made at the July hearing and believe that there are places where they can tailor the final regulations to address the abuses that concerned Congress without an adverse affect on businesses  that were following the law,”  Delegate Christensen said.
 
 “They also agreed to consider transitional relief for those U.S. citizens who had moved to the USVI, made investments, and started businesses in reliance on the availability of tax credits under prior law,” Christensen said.  “Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Treasury is pushing to get the regulations out by the end of this year.  In the meantime, we will continue to look for the opportunities to address the situation as the legislative calendar winds down for the first session of Congress.”