Officials in the Koch network of political groups sharpened their criticism of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady Friday, promoting an op-ed in the Texan’s hometown newspaper accusing him of holding up tax reform because of his support for a border-adjusted corporate tax.
“Unfortunately, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, stands in the way of uniting the pro-tax reform coalition and building consensus around a comprehensive plan,” wrote Tim Phillips, the president of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, and James Davis, the executive vice president of Freedom Partners, another Koch-affiliated group.
Their article was published in the Houston Chronicle. Brady’s district includes Houston suburbs.
Koch-related groups have mounted a sustained and aggressive campaign against one provision of the tax reform blueprint authored by Brady and House Speaker Paul Ryan, namely the border-adjusted corporate tax.
They have proposed effectively taxing imports as part of a broader corporate rate-cutting reform that would tax goods based on where they are sold. Under the plan, the government would stop taxing export sales, but also disallow businesses from deducting the cost of imports from their taxable income. In today’s system, U.S. companies are taxed on all profits, whether they are earned in the U.S. or abroad.
Industries that rely on imports, such as the refineries owned by Koch Industries, have rallied to stop the border-adjusted tax, fearing a tax hike.
In their op-ed, Phillips and Davis termed it “The Brady Tax” and highlighted businessmen from his district who have raised concerns about it.
Earlier this month, Koch Industries bristled when Brady described their opposition to the idea as a defense of a special tax break by a special interest.
