WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A “debt reduction sales tax” covering items from groceries to new homes and health care proposed today by the Bipartisan Policy Center would result in massive job losses and prolong the nation’s economic downturn, the National Retail Federation said.
“Policymakers in Washington have been talking for months about a consumption tax as a solution for the deficit, but the truth is that it would have devastating consequences,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Our research shows a tax of this magnitude would throw away hundreds of thousands of jobs at a time when our economy is still struggling to recover. Whether you call it a ‘debt reduction sales tax,’ a ‘national retail sales tax’ or a ‘value added tax,’ it would be part of the problem, not part of the solution.”
“This tax would apply to everyday necessities and drive up costs for working families on everything from food to homes to health care,” Shay said. “While the poorest of the poor might receive some type of rebate, the middle-class would bear the greatest burden and senior citizens living on a fixed income would be forced to make do with less.”
J. Craig Shearman