Colorado Springs — Tax cut advocate Steve Forbes told a gathering of mega-donors to the Koch brothers various groups that the Republican leaders’ border adjusted tax plan would amount to a tax break for giant U.S. companies like Boeing who export to Iran, a setup he called “tax breaks for terrorists.”
“Higher prices for working families… and then tax breaks for terrorists,” Forbes said.
Under the GOP plan, export sales would not be taxed, but companies would not be allowed to deduct the cost of imported goods or components. Forbes said that means the aircraft Boeing plans to sell Iran would be tax-free sales.
“Boeing has announced it’s selling several million dollars worth of aircraft to Iran. That money is going to be tax free,” he said.
At the same time, working families would see prices rise on everyday goods they buy that are imported from other countries.
“Higher prices for working families… and then tax breaks for terrorists,” he said. “Can you defend that on the campaign trail? Tax free funds for Iran to sell them cheaper aircraft, and you’re shafting American consumers?”
He added that the idea of trying to cut taxes, then imposing a new tax on imports is “stupid.”
“The idea that to have a tax cut and then a new tax, just think how stupid that is,” he said. “You’re supposed to cut taxes, not put in a new tax.”
Lawmakers attending the Kochs’ conference here said late Sunday night that the border adjusted tax is already dead in Congress, but said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., still seems to be in the process of trying to gather votes for it. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said Ryan would quickly find that there’s no path forward for the idea, and encouraged lawmakers to scrap it and work to get a tax reform bill done in the coming weeks.
“The Speaker now understands that he does not have the votes on the border adjustment tax,” Meadows said. “We’re now into the phase of, can he convince enough people to change their mind? And the answer to that is, no.”
But Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the global investment firm Citadel, told conference attendees that a dramatic cut in tax rates is not possible given the nearly $20 trillion debt the government has run up.
“We just went through eight years of spending that we’ve never seen before,” he said. “we have some room to cut rates, but we don’t have room” to move rates as low as President Trump has proposed.
