Proponents have failed to address critics’ concerns; lack of alternatives make overhaul difficult
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, right, and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, left, have pushed the border adjustment tax as a way to raise roughly $1 trillion in revenue to partially offset an ambitious corporate tax rate cut. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
House Republican leaders’ controversial border adjustment tax is dead, and as a result, their plans to dramatically overhaul the tax code could soon be too.
The border adjustment tax, or BAT, is a proposal to tax imports instead of exports, reversing the way the United States currently taxes goods crossing its borders. House GOP leaders, namely Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, have pushed for the tax as a way to discourage U.S. companies from moving operations overseas and to raise roughly $1 trillion in revenue to partially offset an ambitious corporate tax rate cut.