House Republicans introduce resolution opposing the VAT

A value-added tax would damage the economy and hamper job creation, House Republicans said Tuesday. 

Several House leaders along with more than 80 other lawmakers introduced a nonbinding "sense of the House" resolution today opposing a VAT on top of the current tax code. The Senate recently approved a similar resolution.

"A European-style VAT will only further the catastrophic cycle of tax and spend government in Washington," House Ways and Means Committee member Wally Herger (R-Calif.) said in a release today. 

Herger, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) are responding to several recent comments by the Obama administration that the VAT is still on the table as a potential revenue raiser. 

Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles, who are heading up President Barack Obama's financial commission, said late last month that nothing is off the table when it comes to dealing with the nation's deficits and debts. 

Simpson said a value-added tax couldn't be done without first dealing with income taxes.

Boehner argued that the tax -- which would be added to certain goods and services -- would raise the cost of every product made in the United States and "destroy jobs." 

"Democrats have already made it clear that more tax increases on income, capital gains and dividends are on the way," Cantor said.