RILA: Retailers say no ‘Sacred Cows’ in corporate tax reform

Arlington, Va. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association said Monday via a written letter to the House Ways and Means Committee that all corporate tax preferences need to be “put on the table” so that politics can be neutralized and progress can be made.



“Consistent with the tax reform vision put forth by Chairman Camp, RILA believes that all corporate tax preferences need to be put on the table in order to give the Committee as much latitude as possible to reduce the corporate rate in a revenue-neutral fashion,” said Bill Hughes, senior VP of government affairs, RILA, in the letter to the Ways and Means Working Group on Income and Tax Distribution. “RILA also strongly supports the Chairman’s goal of reducing the corporate tax rate to 25%.”



The letter cited a PwC study commissioned by RILA last year that highlighted the impact the retail industry has on the economy. The study found the retail industry to be the second largest private-sector employer in the U.S., and also that the retail sector incurs a domestic effective tax rate of 36.4%, fourth highest among the18 major industries and more than 10 percentage points higher than the average for all other industries. Given the enormous employment footprint of the retail industry, comprehensive tax reform could stimulate job growth in the retail sector and the industries supported by retail.



According to RILA, comprehensive tax reform that eliminates preferences, substantially lowers rates and simplifies the tax code will put more money in consumers’ pockets, allow small businesses to grow and free U.S. retailers to compete globally, invest, expand their businesses, and most importantly, create new jobs.



“From our perspective, the ideal tax reform will provide for a substantial reduction in the tax rate for corporations and a substantial reduction in the tax rate for individuals and pass-through entities,” wrote Hughes.