A conservative advocacy group is gearing up for a national effort to block a border adjustment tax that's part of a GOP tax overhaul plan.
Americans For Prosperity — founded by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, who have a long history of supporting Republicans — will focus efforts most heavily on states where it believes it can best rally opposition, Bloomberg News reported.
"There are moments where you kind of have a disagreement on issues and you shrug your shoulders and you move on," AFP President Tim Phillips said in a conference call, Bloomberg reported. "But this border-adjustment tax is no such issue."
"It's a $1.2 trillion tax over 10 years that's going to be particularly difficult for folks who can least afford it," he added. "We oppose it on philosophical grounds. We oppose it because of the devastating impact it's going to have on so many Americans."
Brent Gardner, AFP's chief government affairs officer, told Bloomberg News the anti-border adjustment tax push would most heavily focus on 21 members of the Senate in 15 states and about the same number of House members. About 100 office visits across the country are scheduled for next week.
AFP argues the proposed tax on U.S. companies' domestic sales and imports would mean higher costs for retailers and other industries that rely on imports – costs that would be passed along to consumers.
Earlier Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan — who, along with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, has proposed a tax overhaul that includes the border adjusted tax — referred to proposal, saying "I would say to those who are concerned about this, I think they under-appreciate how much better our tax system will be with this kind of provision," Bloomberg reported.
Ryan argues the plan would make U.S. companies more competitive globally, and notes many other nations already have such adjustments in their tax codes that helps their exports avoid double taxation, Bloomberg News reported.
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