NEW YORK – Cliff Rosenthal, executive director of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, said the Federation had looked occasionally at this question because of the attempts some have made over the years to try to split the credit union industry by size. The presumption has always been that low-income credit unions and community development credit unions would likely not be taxed because of their small size and the type of work they do, Rosenthal explained, but CDCUs have always remained in solidarity with the industry because on taxation they recognize they have more in common with larger CUs than not. But if taxation were to come in the form of a flat fee, or even in the form of a progressive tax, Rosenthal said the result could be disastrous for low-income or community development credit unions. "They just don't have the margins to be able to pay a tax," Rosenthal said. "If credit unions were taxed I expect there would be many civic groups and community groups that run CDCUs around the country which would just throw up their hands and give up."