Retailers launch new push against border tax

The retail industry is ramping up its efforts against House Republicans’ proposed border-tax proposal.



The National Retail Federation has launched the next phase of a television and digital ad campaign against the tax, which is included in the House Republican tax reform plan.



The campaign features three small retailers who tell their own stories and convey their fears that the BAT would put them out of business.



“Small business owners are already struggling to survive in an over-regulated marketplace, and the border adjustment tax would push many of them under water,” said David French, NRF senior VP for government relations.”



French said that the three retailers featured in the campaign represent “the millions of Americans who have made enormous sacrifices to build their businesses and now are at risk of being taxed out of existence.“



“Their stories are powerful not just because they are real, but because their fears transcend regional and partisan politics,” he said.



The ads will begin with a two-week television and digital ad buy in the congressional districts of several Republican members of the House. The ads will launch in several communities across the country and will encourage viewers to go to stopthebat.tax to tell their members of Congress to oppose the BAT.



The BAT is included in the House Republican leadership’s “Better Way” plan for tax reform. While NRF said it strongly supports tax reform, it warned the BAT could cause retailers to see tax bills three to five times the amount of their profits. Most at risk, according to the NRF, would be the small retailers that make up 98% of the retail industry and provide 40% of its jobs.