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Roskam, GOP tax law will hurt businesses

I read with interest your article about Peter Roskam dated Feb. 5. Roskam is also a lead player in the Border Adjustment Tax controversy. As the chair of the Tax Policy subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee, he is doing a big sell job on TV for this plan, which has the potential to rip apart our family business, Learning Resources Inc. in Vernon Hills.

We design, develop and market educational products that we sell all over the world, but have the apparent misfortune, under the Border Adjustment Tax plan namely, to make our products overseas. This takes our prospective tax bill to 165 percent from today's not-exactly-tiny 39.6 percent federal charge. I consider this an existential threat.

Roskam seems immune to logic or argument. I met with him and he has turned a deaf ear to facts, figures or rational debunking of this crazy tax plan. He and his colleagues Kevin Brady and Paul Ryan seem determined to foist this legislation off on America.

I believe part of the reason Congress can try to ram through such a complex and flawed plan is because local folks have a hard time understanding its impact on them. I started a blog to help with this problem and just published a post which lists 622 importers located in the zip codes in Roskam's district.

These are the companies in his district who are most likely to see their tax bill skyrocket like ours. The BAT plan is sufficiently complex that the bills for each company will be different and will actually vary wildly year to year. Nevertheless, one thing is certain - none of these companies will be able to deduct imported COGS. That's the killer.

I thought you might find the list interesting. Some of these companies might be surprised to learn their own congressman is about to turn their world upside down.

Richard Woldenberg

Vernon Hills

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