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McCrery Says Farm Bill Offset Would Hurt U.S. Competitiveness

JUL. 25, 2007

McCrery Says Farm Bill Offset Would Hurt U.S. Competitiveness

DATED JUL. 25, 2007
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    McCrery, Rep. Jim
  • Institutional Authors
    House of Representatives
    Ways and Means Committee
  • Cross-Reference
    For the legislative text of the offset provision (H.R. 3160), see

    Doc 2007-17337 2007 TNT 144-18: Proposed Legislation [PDF].
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Language
    English
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    Doc 2007-17348
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2007 TNT 144-25
Washington -- With the clock running out before the August recess, Democrats have unveiled legislation designed to pay for the spending increases in the Farm Bill. The funding measure, introduced as a bill sponsored by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, would endanger a host of carefully negotiated tax treaties and raise the cost of doing business in the United States.

"This proposal will raise taxes on many businesses operating in the United States," said Ways and Means Ranking Member Jim McCrery. "It will hurt our competitiveness and our standing in the world by carelessly violating a host of treaties. It is bad policy and bad politics. Democrats are trying to sneak a far-reaching and potentially destructive proposal through the House without proper consideration. Any fair-minded person who cares about the U.S. economy will oppose this bill."

Rep. Doggett's legislation would increase taxes, in some cases imposing the equivalent of a 30 percent gross receipts tax on certain American businesses that are owned by foreign companies. Companies that could be affected by this tax increase include Honda North America, Food Lion, Nestle, Bayer, BASF, T-Mobile, and many more. This higher rate would override a series of carefully negotiated treaties between the U.S. and foreign nations that have been approved by the U.S. Senate over the past several decades.

"To attempt to impose this sort of one-size-fits all tax increase so cavalierly and capriciously, without hearings, without a markup, without any sort of bipartisan discussion, is an insult to the Ways and Means Committee and the House," McCrery said.

DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    McCrery, Rep. Jim
  • Institutional Authors
    House of Representatives
    Ways and Means Committee
  • Cross-Reference
    For the legislative text of the offset provision (H.R. 3160), see

    Doc 2007-17337 2007 TNT 144-18: Proposed Legislation [PDF].
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Language
    English
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    Doc 2007-17348
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2007 TNT 144-25
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