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2011 SESSION

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11103452D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 642 Offered January 12, 2011 Prefiled January 12, 2011 Memorializing the members of the Virginia Delegation of the Congress of the United States to oppose the enactment of a value-added tax on consumption in addition to existing income and other taxes. ---------- Patrons-- Comstock, Athey, Cole and Jones ---------- Referred to Committee on Rules ----------

WHEREAS, a value-added tax (VAT) is a consumption tax placed on products whenever value is added and at final sale, typically with credits, complex record-keeping, and varying rates for different products; and

WHEREAS, the VAT would be another new tax that American families and small businesses would bear; and

WHEREAS, the typical VAT rate in Europe has grown from less than five percent in the 1960s to nearly 20 percent today; and

WHEREAS, the minimum VAT rate a country needs to join the European Union is 15 percent; and

WHEREAS, other taxes in Europe have risen at the same time as the VAT has risen, leading to a very high level of taxation compared with the United States; and

WHEREAS, there is every reason to believe that the European experience of the last half-century would be repeated here; and

WHEREAS, there are pro-growth ways to promote domestic manufacturing and international tax competitiveness without imposing a dangerous new VAT on top of existing income taxes; and

WHEREAS, there are pro-growth and pro-business ways of executing tax reform that do not involve the introduction of a new type of tax into our tax structure on top of, or in addition to, existing income and other taxes; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the members of the Virginia Delegation of the Congress of the United States be urged to oppose the enactment of a value-added tax on consumption in addition to existing income and other taxes; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.