NRF Rolls Out Next Phase of Anti-BAT Campaign

The National Retail Federation (NRF) has launched the next phase of its television and digital ad campaign opposing House Republicans’ proposed border adjustment tax (BAT), following satirical commercials characterizing the BAT as an “everything tax” for American consumers.

The new ads feature three small-business owners, including Erin Calvo-Bacci, of Swampscott, Mass.-based specialty chocolate manufacturer and retailer CB Stuffer, who relate their concern that the BAT would be “devastating” for them.

“Small business owners are already struggling to survive in an over-regulated marketplace, and the border adjustment tax would push many of them under water,” Noted NRF SVP for Government Relations David French. “[These business owners] represent the millions of Americans who have made enormous sacrifices to build their businesses and now are at risk of being taxed out of existence. Their stories are powerful not just because they are real, but because their fears transcend regional and partisan politics.”

Launching in several communities across the country, including a two-week run in the congressional districts of several Republican members of the House, the new TV and digital ads will encourage viewers to visit stopthebat.tax to tell their members of Congress to vote against the BAT, which is included in the House Republican leadership’s “Better Way” tax reform plan.

Although it backs tax reform, Washington-based NRF contends that the BAT could cause retailers to see tax bills three to five times the amount of their profits, threatening to drive some merchants out of business. Particularly at risk would be small retailers, who account for 98 percent of the retail industry and provide 40 percent of its jobs.