Retailer-opposed border-adjusted tax on imports is no longer in play

Republican leaders said on Thursday that the proposed border-adjusted tax won’t be part of negotiations on how to overhaul the U.S. tax code—delivering a victory to retailers’ groups that had strenuously opposed the measure.

A statement Thursday from the so-called Big Six—which includes House Speaker Paul Ryan, Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch—said due to the unknowns associated with the border-adjusted tax, the group “had decided to set this policy aside in order to advance tax reform.”

“And we are now confident that, without transitioning to a new domestic consumption-based tax system, there is a viable approach for ensuring a level playing field between American and foreign companies and workers, while protecting American jobs and the U.S. tax base,” the statement said.

Ryan and Brady, who spent more than a year championing the border-adjusted tax, had been telling Republicans prior to the statement’s release that the concept would no longer be part of tax-legislation negotiations, according to four people familiar with the ongoing discussions who asked not to be identified because the talks were private.
more at:  https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2017/07/27/retailer-opposed-border-adjusted-tax-imports-no-longer-in-play/