American finance directors are calling on Congressional leaders to review carefully several of president Barack Obama's February budget plan proposals, which they claim would lead to huge tax hikes for US businesses. The taxation committee (COT) of North American FDs group Financial Executives International issued a letter last week calling for any major tax policy changes to be addressed as part of broader tax reform, in which a significant corporate tax reduction is considered at the same time. The committee's letter to Congress says: 'The tax provisions in president Obama's budget would confront US businesses with daunting challenges in the best of economic times.' It continues: 'Many of the tax policies in the budget plan would have a detrimental long-term impact on the competitiveness of US-based businesses in the global economy. COT strongly urges that any major tax policy be addressed in the context of a broader tax reform effort, in which a significant corporate tax rate reduction is considered concurrently.' In particular, COT highlights Obama's proposals over tax rules relating to foreign business income; the last-in, first-out (LIFO) investory accounting method; and tax increases targeting a single industry. The letter concludes by pointing out that US corporate income tax rates are higher than those in all other OECD countries except Japan. 'The US tax rate creates a long-term competitive disadvantage for US-based businesses in the global economy.'