Lubbock Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Representative Jodey Arrington (TX-19) joined Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) to reintroduce HR 3210 – the Book Minimum Tax Repeal Act – to reverse the punitive new tax which will fall on U.S. manufacturers, energy producers, and job creators amid historic inflation and economic uncertainty.  

“The book minimum tax is nothing more than a tried-and-failed tax hike that will undermine domestic investment, job creation, and U.S. manufacturing. This tax compliance nightmare gives unprecedented power to unelected bureaucrats and Democrat special interest carve outs,” said Rep. Arrington. “I am proud to work with Sen. Barrasso to introduce the Book Minimum Tax Repeal Act to protect American competitiveness and working families from even higher prices, fewer jobs, and lower wages.”

“Companies in the United States need to be focused on creating more American jobs and unleashing American energy. Reckless and complicated taxes like this undermine our supply chain, threaten our energy security, and send jobs and investment overseas,” said Senator Barrasso. “Businesses looking to build our economy and invest in Wyoming don’t need more punishing taxes. They especially don’t need unelected bureaucrats to have more control of U.S. tax policy. We need to repeal this once-failed tax once and for all.”  

“The AICPA continues to oppose the corporate AMT, which increases tax code complexity and risks interfering with accounting rule making and financial reporting. We are grateful to Rep. Arrington for his leadership on this issue,” said Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, President and CEO, American Institute of CPAs.

“The Book Minimum Tax Repeal Act will help ensure that the next manufacturing dollar is spent in America and enable the growth of family-supporting manufacturing jobs. We thank Representative Arrington for his support of the manufacturing sector and urge Congress to pass this important legislation,” said Chris Netram, Managing Vice President, Tax & Domestic Economic Policy, National Association of Manufacturers.  

“Raising taxes on energy means raising costs for working families. IPAA applauds Rep. Arrington efforts to keep energy reliable and affordable for all Americans,” said Ryan Ullman, Vice President of Government Relations and Political Affairs for the Independent Petroleum Association of America. 

Background on the Legislation:

•    In August 2022, Congressional Democrats passed their reckless tax and spending bill. The largest tax increase in the bill was a new 15% tax on financial statement, or “book,” income of certain U.S. companies.

•    Book income is based on an entirely different set of rules, and established for entirely different purposes, than taxable income. Book income and taxable income frequently differ. For example, book income does not consider certain tax incentives specifically designed by Congress, in a bipartisan manner, to support domestic investment. While the book income tax claws back longstanding tax provisions, including cost recovery provisions for oil and gas production, Democrats have included special interest loopholes and carves outs for favored industries and have given unelected bureaucrats the ability to pick winners and losers by manipulating the tax code. 

•    The book minimum tax has been tried before, and it failed miserably. A similar tax was rolled back in the 1980s after only two years due to its complexity and unintended consequences. In fact, then-Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Democrat Dan Rostenkowski introduced the legislation to repeal the book minimum tax.

•    The book minimum tax is a flawed tax policy, will make investing in America more expensive, undermine American manufacturing and energy production, and kill American jobs. 

•    This “Made-in-America” tax will make production and supply chain problems worse and increase prices on products people use daily. It will ensure that more of our everyday household items are made in China.

Original source can be found here.