Mind the Gap: Collect Taxes Owed Before Raising Rates

Washington, DC - The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) issued the following statement from Senior Executive Vice President, Public Affairs Michael Hanson in advance of today’s Senate Finance Taxation and IRS Oversight Subcommittee hearing, Closing the Tax Gap: Lost Revenue from Noncompliance and the Role of Offshore Tax Evasion:

“Retailers have consistently supported a fairer tax code that emphasizes fewer specialized loopholes, and lower rates for all.  As the Biden Administration and Congress debate reforming the tax code—and whether it is the proper mechanism to fund long-term infrastructure investments—retailers would encourage not only an exhaustive review of the code to target abuse, but a serious discussion on enforcement, and whether the IRS is properly resourced and staffed to collect the taxes that are legally owed. 

"The first tenet of any tax reform effort should be to collect what is legally owed before raising the corporate rate a single point.  While there is ample room to debate the approximate dollar figure a crackdown on tax scofflaws would generate, the range in figures which have been made public suggest ample revenue is being left on the table.  If the tax code is to be the vehicle to fund our nation’s long-term infrastructure investments, then the debate must start here.”

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RILA is the US trade association for leading retailers. We convene decision-makers, advocate for the industry, and promote operational excellence and innovation. Our aim is to elevate a dynamic industry by transforming the environment in which retailers operate.

RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad.

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• Building Communities
• Public Policy
• Retail Works for All of Us
• Finance
• Tax