House Votes to Repeal Arbitrary Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers and Importers

Statement

As part of its effort to create jobs in a stagnant economy, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Medical Device Tax, a 2.3% arbitrary tax increase created by the President's healthcare bill in 2010. H.R. 436, the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2012, received bipartisan support in the House and now goes to the Senate for consideration.

"A key priority of mine is to get the government out of the way and allow the free market to help create jobs for the more than 13 million unemployed Americans who are struggling right now," said Congressman Scott Rigell. "This tax is a direct impediment to that, and we are already seeing jobs being cut across the country because of it."

A recent industry study estimated that eventually the medical device tax could result in the loss of up to 43,000 American jobs across the industry, which is made up of mostly small businesses with 50 or fewer employees.

"It is important that we make our 60,000-page tax code simpler, flatter, and fairer," said Rigell. "Just as many industry-specific deductions and credits are unfair, so too are industry-specific taxes. The bottom line is this: our revenues and our expenses are not in line with one another, and we need careful consideration and true leadership in addressing this."

Source