Key Vote: Oppose Grassley Amendment #1835

The American Energy Alliance urges all Senators to oppose Grassley amendment #1835 to the Hatch substitute for HR 1 the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This amendment seeks to protect the users of complex international tax structures from being touched by reforms included in the Hatch Substitute, a provision known as the Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT).

The BEAT provision targets asset stripping where large companies use international subsidiaries to game the system to reduce their tax liability. The BEAT provision seeks to crack down on this maneuver by imposing a minimum tax on entities employing these complex tax equity financing mechanisms. Senator Grassley’s amendment would protect these tax avoiding maneuvers and should be opposed.

Senator Grassley’s amendment to protect the large, sophisticated multinational companies that use these tax gimmicks would leave middle class taxpayers bearing more of the tax burden. The Senate should not be in the business of protecting these tax games just because it provides cheap financing for energy companies that Sen. Grassley happens to favor.

The AEA urges all members to support free markets and affordable energy by voting NO on Amendment #1835.  Should a vote on this amendment occur, AEA will include it in its American Energy Scorecard.