IV 111th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1245 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 13, 2010 Mr. Tiahrt submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Value Added Tax is a massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America’s economic recovery.

Whereas a Value Added Tax (VAT) is a sales tax imposed on each stage of production, on each firm’s value added; Whereas a VAT is not a national sales tax (NST), a NST is a Federal consumption tax collected only at the retail level by vendors; Whereas a VAT is a tax on the transfer of goods and services at every stage of production; Whereas a VAT is ultimately hidden from the end user; Whereas the VAT unfairly targets low and middle income wage earners by assessing value on every production activity and passing the cost on to the consumer; Whereas Americans have already been subject to one of the highest tax increases in our Nation’s history as part of recently passed health care reform; Whereas the VAT has been widely adopted by European nations and is routinely cited as encouraging public spending at the cost of private job creation; Whereas Denmark enacted a 9 percent VAT in 1962; Whereas Denmark’s VAT has surged to 25 percent in 2010; Whereas like Denmark, as the government’s thirst for revenue increases, the VAT will be used to quench its thirst; Whereas the solution to America’s worsening government fiscal outlook is not to increase taxes; Whereas the solution to America’s economic situation is to cut spending; and Whereas Congress could get America’s economy back on track by focusing on tax relief and simplification, liability reform, regulatory reform, health care security, and energy independence: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives considers the Value Added Tax a massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America’s economic recovery.