How are credit unions and banks different?
Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives and are fundamentally different from for-profit banks in many ways. Because these differences provide significant benefits to our communities, Congress has exempted credit unions from paying federal income taxes (but not from all taxes). The banking industry continually challenges the credit union tax exemption, so we must make sure that our communities understand the value of credit unions and the importance of the tax exemption.
