IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1346 
Opposing the imposition of a value-added tax. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 11, 2010 
Mr. HERGER (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. PENCE, Mr. 
LANCE, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LINDER, Mr. 
TIBERI, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, 
Mr. REICHERT, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. HELLER, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. BART-
LETT, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mrs. 
BLACKBURN, Mrs. BONO MACK, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, 
Mr. BURGESS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CARTER, Mr. 
CHAFFETZ, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. CULBERSON, 
Mr. DREIER, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. FORBES, Mr. 
FORTENBERRY, Ms. FOXX, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. 
GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. HARP-
ER, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. ISSA, Ms. JEN-
KINS, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. JORDAN of Ohio, Mr. KING of Iowa, 
Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. LATTA, Mr. LEWIS of 
California, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. MACK, Mr. MARCHANT, 
Mr. MCCARTHY of California, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. 
MCHENRY, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. MICA, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mrs. 
MYRICK, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POE of 
Texas, Mr. POSEY, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. 
ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. SCALISE, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. 
SESSIONS, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. WAL-
DEN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Mr. WOLF) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
Means 
RESOLUTION 
Opposing the imposition of a value-added tax. 
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•HRES 1346 IH 
Whereas a value-added tax (VAT) is a type of sales tax that 
is assessed on goods at every stage of production; 
Whereas a VAT is a hidden tax that is ultimately passed 
along to consumers, but is embedded into the price of 
goods and services and therefore not transparent to the 
consumer; 
Whereas the average tax burden levied by the Federal Gov-
ernment since 1980 has been 18.2 percent of gross do-
mestic product (GDP); 
Whereas, within the next 15 years, Federal taxes are pro-
jected to rise to the highest level in United States his-
tory; 
Whereas adding a VAT on top of the existing Federal income 
tax would increase the burden on United States tax-
payers to unprecedented levels; 
Whereas the average VAT rate in Europe has risen from 5 
percent when the tax was first introduced in the 1960s 
to 20 percent today; 
Whereas European countries that have imposed a VAT have 
seen their total tax burden rise to an average of over 40 
percent of GDP; 
Whereas such high levels of taxation and spending crowd out 
private investment, which stifles economic growth and 
leads to chronically high levels of unemployment; 
Whereas the Internal Revenue Service Office of the Taxpayer 
Advocate has calculated that United States taxpayers 
spend approximately $200 billion and 7.6 billion hours a 
year to comply with Federal tax laws; 
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•HRES 1346 IH 
Whereas a VAT would only add another layer of complexity 
and compliance costs to a fundamentally unsound tax 
system; 
Whereas, on September 12, 2008, then-Senator Barack 
Obama told an audience in Dover, New Hampshire, that 
‘‘I can make a firm pledge: under my plan, no family 
making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase— 
not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your 
capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.’’; 
Whereas the burden of a VAT would fall most heavily on low- 
income and middle-class Americans; 
Whereas the true solution to the United States fiscal crisis 
is to rein in the unsustainable growth of Federal spend-
ing; and 
Whereas a VAT would do nothing to restore fiscal account-
ability in Washington, but would simply bankroll wasteful 
and inefficient Federal Government spending: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That— 
(1) it is the sense of the House of Representa-
tives that imposing a value-added tax would be a 
massive tax increase that would cripple families on 
fixed income and only further push back the United 
States economic recovery; and 
(2) the House of Representatives opposes a 
value-added tax. 
Æ 
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